Gelosia
by MauroC42
Summary: "When completely unknown and indifferent people live together for a while, the depths of their hearts open up to each other and there must appear a mutual confidence." (Goethe)
1. Chapter 1

Another school day had ended. Jérémie Belpois was very tired that day – he hardly ever got enough sleep. He went out of class, greeted and already bid goodbye to his friends, bought himself a can of soda and entered his room. There he laid down in his bed and closed his eyes for a little while.

Jérémie was a ninth grader at Kadic Academy, a renowned boarding school. Not that his parents didn't have time for him - they were very hardworking people and loved their only son, but Jérémie had gotten a scholarship there. He was a brilliant boy and that was a perfect opportunity for a family with limited resources. His true passion was informatics, something that made him lose his sleep. He loved programs, computers, technology and spent his nights researching and studying.

But there was another reason.

One day, searching for robotic parts in an abandoned factory close to the school, he discovered something amazing: a technological complex with a quantic supercomputer. Even better, the supercomputer was home to a whole virtual world - Lyoko. This was not only Jérémie's secret, but also his friends'. So it happens that in that virtual world lived X.A.N.A., a program that had developed self-conciousness and now planned to take over the world. Together, Jérémie and his friends were the Lyoko Warriors, the heros who entered the virtual world to save the existence of the real one. That's why he spent so much time on his computer - he was the one who supervised and made possible the trips to Lyoko.

His eyes opened to sudden knocks on the door.  
"...come in...", he said, sleepy.

Who opened was Yumi Ishiyama. She was the oldest of the Lyoko Warriors and was a tenth grader, one year ahead of the others. She was also a day student - her parents, Japanese immigrants, lived near the school, so she returned home every afternoon, slept and went to school in the mornings.

It was almost 7PM and Jérémie found it a strange visit.

"Hi, Jérémie, I have a big math test next week. Could you help me study? I can't seem to understand any of it."  
"...no problem, Yumi, sit down. What's the test about anyway?"

* * *

"Trigonometry? Piece of cake. Let's begin with tha basics. Trigonometry is a part of math that studies angles and measures in triangles and..."  
"And that's because they don't even learn trigonometry in ninth grade", Yumi thought to herself. The teachers considered her a great student, but her forte was Literature and languages.

Jérémie wasn't exactly a good teacher, but he was all she had. She didn't know the smart students in her class very well (granted, she practically didn't know anyone very well, since she liked to be alone). OK, she could study with William Dunbar, but he wasn't exactly what you could call 'intelligent', 'applied' or 'interested'.

She ran through the pages trying to keep up with the explanations. Didn't Jérémie realize that not everyone was like him? He wasn't lacking in goodwill, but he was often a snob.

He stopped for a moment.

"Yumi, are you paying attention?"  
"Huh, yes, Jérémie, but... could you explain to me again what are radians?"  
"But that was ten pages before! Look, it's simple, the definition of radians is..."

He was often impatient too.

Not that he didn't have his own share of difficulties. Jérémie was a very shy boy and was afraid of talking to people. Looking someone in the eyes for more than ten seconds was a nearly impossible task for him. It only got worse around girls. Sure, Yumi was his friend and he never had any trouble talking to her, but now was a different situation: they were both alone in his room and the distance between them didn't help much. He decided it was best not to avert his gaze from the book.

"Right, I'll try to explain more slowly this time...", he said, slightly disappointed.

"Thank you", she muttered with a serious and concentrated expression carved on her face.

* * *

 **Author's Notes/Post Scriptum:**

 **First of all, I would like to apologize for any mistakes I might have made. It's been a long time since I've written anything in English, and comparing this to my last (and first and only) fic, at least I think there's a noticeable drop in quality. Oh well...  
Also, one of my creativity problems is that I can only get inspired to write stories about normal, everyday life. No action, no exciting adventures. Maybe that's what happens when you only read authors who write about everyday situations. Finally, I also like to divide my narratives in small chapters. Any comments are welcome and appreciated.  
**


	2. Chapter 2

In the meanwhile, Ulrich Stern was walking down the corridor. He also was a Lyoko Warrior and was in the same class as Jérémie. With brown hair and always with a silent expression, his parents, who came from a rich German family, almost didn't have time for their son and decided to enroll him at the boarding school. Maybe it was because of that that Ulrich was such a hard person to deal with.  
Ulrich and Yumi were also in love with each other but, paradoxally, they didn't know it. The personalities that brought them together were the same that kept them away from any serious attempt at a commitment. In Yumi's case, it was her apparent indifference and rudeness.  
In Ulrich's case, it was his lack of common sense and consideration, but mainly his almost sick jealousy. Even though they weren't 'officialy' together, he couldn't stand seeing Yumi near another boy. Especially if the boy in question was William Dunbar.

When he heard Yumi's voice, of course he wouldn't miss the opportunity to see her. It was a little weird that she was in Jérémie's room, but he was possibly the only person who Ulrich didn't worry about. After all, besides having a crippling shyness, he was already commited to Aelita.

The door opened without warning. The scene was, not saying much, comical. Jérémie had his face buried in a book while Yumi was concentrated, trying to grasp the explanations of the young teacher.

"Hey, guys. What are you doing?"  
Jérémie's helping me study for math."  
"I thought you were one grade ahead of us."  
"Yes, that's true", said Jérémie, feeling a bit more comfortable with Ulrich's presence. "But for someone who deals with quantic supercomputers, I'd say high school math is pretty easy."

The couple threw him a pair of crooked looks.

Even though he wasn't invited, Ulrich sat down and watched the two of them. He was an average student in the full sense of the word, and Jérémie's explanations simply flew above his head. Judging by Yumi's face, she didn't seem to be doing any better.  
Ah, Yumi's face. That's why Ulrich was putting up with all that nonsense. He stopped his eyes. It was impossible to get tired of that face - her black hair, her deep eyes, her smile...  
He stopped himself before he sighed.

The 'silence' had to be broken.

"Yumi, but will we really have to learn all this difficult stuff next year?"  
"You said the same thing last year. And two years before", Jérémie cut in before she could answer.  
"Continuing, there is no value for the tangent of π/2 or its correspondents in the next arches..."

No wonder they called Jérémie 'Einstein'. How could he like these things? Worse, it was like they were really interested in... studying! It couldn't go on like that. Ulrich waited a while and tried again:

"Yumi, what if we went for some ice cream later or..."  
Jérémie was becoming impatient. "Ulrich, you said it yourself: later. We're trying to study."

Ulrich, however, was also very stubborn. He resigned himself and watched for a couple of minutes before risking another try.  
This time, it was Yumi who got mad. "Ulrich, this is a very important test and it would be very nice if you could let us study in peace, OK?"

Seeing Yumi mad was, at the same time, something fascinating and scary. He made a low-pitched grunt, left and closed the door.

"Sorry, Jérémie, but you know how Ulrich is."

He thought about something to say, but figured it was better not to bad mouth his friend in front of his girlfriend, eh, best friend, well... whatever they were. So he simply lowered his head in consent. She seemed a little disappointed.

It was almost 9PM when they finished studying. Jérémie took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. He was so tired that he felt as if his brain would ooze out of his ears at any moment.

"Hm, I guess I understood it. It's also getting late, I'd better go."

He answered with a 'hm-hm'. He still needed to have dinner and take a shower.

"Thank you, Jérémie." She stood up and picked up her backpack. Jérémie held out his hand, expecting a formality. She preferred a hug.

"Huh, you're welcome", he said, slightly embarassed.

* * *

 **Author's Notes/Post Scriptum:**

 **So, the second chapter of this little drama. I'd only like to make a note on how the first two chapters can be misleading. Do not trust your instincts reading them...**


	3. Chapter 3

Jérémie was late to breakfast, as always. He grabbed a mug of hot chocolate, two croissants and went to sit with his friends. Two of the five seats at the table were taken.

In one of them was Odd della Robbia with a plate full of food. Odd was Ulrich's roommate and, without any doubt, was the weirdest of the already weird group. His blond hair was, thanks to enormous amounts of gel, shaped as some kind of pointy mountain. Odd's four favorite pasttimes were eating, making jokes, dating (he bragged about having dated practically all the girls in his class) and, of course, eating.  
He said "hi, Jérémie" with his mouth full of bread.

In the other chair was Aelita Stones. Apart from her pink hair, she looked like a perfectly normal 13 year old girl. But she only looked like. In fact, Aelita was 23 years old.  
She had spent ten years of her life as a computer software. Franz Hopper, her father, was the creator of Lyoko. Trying to escape from being pursued, he virtualized Aelita and himself, planning to live there forever. There was, however, another problem within Lyoko: X.A.N.A. The multi-agent program that Hopper had created developed self-consciousness and rebelled. His goal now was taking over the world. The supercomputer was turned off and Aelita and Hopper (as well as X.A.N.A) were trapped inside Lyoko.  
And then Jérémie discovered the factory, Lyoko and Aelita. And, since then, Jérémies ultimate purpose was materializing her and trying to bring her into the real world, which he managed after more than a year of hard work. That's also why the relationship between the two was so strong. To him, Aelita had always been the perfect girl - sweet, beautiful, adorable. To her, Jérémie was the one who always trusted and believed in her, the one who always loved her. Many would say they made a perfect pair.

He sat down beside her. "Good morning, Aelita", he smiled. "I got you a croissant." She gladly accepted the gift.  
"Where are Yumi and Ulrich?" Odd asked.  
The answer came in the form of loud talking in the cafeteria entrance.  
"Please, Ulrich! I was just studying with him!"  
"But couldn't you study with someone else? Like, I don't know... with Maïtena? You've already studied with her before."  
Yumi looked to her sides, as if checking for something, and said in a lower tone: "...but she's even worse than William!"  
"What about Anaïs? She's smart."  
"How do you know all this stuff about the people in my class?"  
"I meant to say that she looks smart!"

They arrived at the table and sat down. "So, everthing going wonderfully?" Odd said with an ironical smile.

Yumi made an angry face and sighed. "Can you believe Ulrich's like this just because I was studying with William?"  
"But it's just that...!"  
"Ulrich, Aelita doesn't get mad when Jérémie studies with other people."  
"Yeah, but he's Jérémie! And they're dating!"

Aelita's cheeks turned a light pink. Jérémie just lowered his head and muttered "very funny"...

"Ulrich, I can't stand your jealousy. It's just because of that that I thought it better for us to remain just friends. I hope you grow up."

The two turned their looks to the other side and remained grumpy for the rest of the meal. Yumi didn't understand why Ulrich had to behave that way. Why couldn't they be like... like Jérémie and Aelita? Sure, Jérémie was jealous too, but at least he had some sense. And everything always seemed to go just right with those two... Ulrich, why are you so insensitive? Ulrich, why did you have to be so ignorant?

She needed to be alone for a while.

Ulrich had a similar dilemma. If Yumi liked him so much, why did she insist on going out with William? Why keep on being just friends? What he wanted most was just being at her side and, in spite of that, he found that wish being denied with an almost cruel indifference. Sometimes, he found that unbearable and annoying; others, depressing and crushing.

He decided to stay at the table, even though he had lost his appetite.

"You going to eat that?" Odd asked, his eyes wide open.  
"...OK, go ahead" he answered in an apathetical tone.  
"I wish those two could get along better", Aelita whispered to Jérémie.  
"Yeah, but what can we do..."

Jérémie was also somewhat insensitive, but not in the same way as Ulrich. He didn't make all theses scenes or scandals; it was his lack of consideration that could be problematic. As when he preferred his computer to a date, for example. Even though he always played the "working on something important" card. There was also his impatience. But still, he had never forgotten any important dates, birthdays and the like.

An idea went through Aelita's head.

"I think we should do something to help them." A slight smile opened in her mouth.  
"Odd, you deal with Ulrich and Jeremy and I'll deal with Yumi, OK?"

* * *

 **Author's Notes/Post Scriptum:**

 **And the plot thickens... If you can't seem to figure out where I'm going with this, there are two major clues: the title and the Goethe quote.**


	4. Chapter 4

Before the afternoon classes, Odd, Jérémie and Aelita went to her room.

"OK, we need to think of something to help those two."  
"Aelita, it's already been more than three years that they're like this. They simply can't get themselves together. What do you think we could possibly do?"  
"Ah, _la gelosia, la gelosia_!" Interrupted Odd. "That's why I follow the teachings of Don Giovanni: 'who to only one woman is faithful is unfaithful to all others; and I, who can't stand unfaithfulness, can only want them all..."  
"Odd!" exclaimed Aelita, slightly embarassed.  
Jérémie rolled his eyes.  
"But it's true, jealousy does make people sick. Jérémie, don't you remember that time when you..."  
He turned red.  
"Thanks, Odd. I get it."  
"Let's get back to the ideas. What if we bought a gift for each one of them?" suggested Aelita.  
"Ulrich would be suspicious. He knows Yumi's not much for gifts" explained Odd.  
"I feel so sad for them. They love each other so much and can't get together!"  
Odd started to sing. "Ah, love, love, that never gives us rest... Like a shadow, that runs after those who flee from it... and flees from who runs after it..."

The three were silent, Odd at one side and Jérémie and Aelita at the other, leaning on each other.

After a few minutes, Odd broke the silence: "I know! What if you set them up on a date?"  
"Set them up on a date? What do you mean?"  
"We make them go out together. Simple as that."  
"That wouldn't do anything", Jérémie said. "They'd simply meet up, wouldn't be able to say anything to each other and would even get mad at us for setting it all up."  
"What if we went with them?" suggested Aelita.  
"The three of us?" Jérémie asked.  
"No, just us two. A... double date. That way, they won't feel lonely and they'll have some support to talk!"  
"Great, Aelita! Right, I'll talk to Ulrich. Well, I'll try. But you know that Odd here is a master at talking!"

* * *

"Hello, Ms. Ishiyama. Can we talk to Yumi?"  
"Just a second." She went in. "Yumi, your friends are here!"  
"I'm coming!"  
They could hear the sounds of hurried steps going down the stairs. She arrived at the door.  
"Hi! ...huh? Oh, it's you. How are you guys?"  
Jérémie and Aelita looked at each other. "We wanted to talk with you about..."  
She frowned immediately. "Listen, if it's about Ulrich, I don't have time for it."  
Aelita poked Jérémie.  
"Huh, it's... Yumi, it's important. Please..."

She looked at the couple. Jérémie seemed uninterested, looking at his girlfriend occasionally. The way his eyes fled from any attempt at eye contact was impressive.  
But when she looked at Aelita and saw that incredibly adorable face, those charming eyes, in short: cuteness incarnate, she couldn't give another answer.  
"...ok, take off your shoes and come in."

They went up to Yumi's room and sat down. Aelita raised her voice.  
"You know, Yumi, we wanted to talk with you about... it's about..."  
...about Ulrich. They had already made the subject very clear.  
"...and I think you two are great together and I believe you could..."

She stopped paying attention. Now the only image that came into her mind was Ulrich's. She was also afraid of confessing her feelings to him. Ulrich was her first - and until then, only - friend. And since then she also didn't know what she felt near him. If only he didn't have to ruin everything! Why did love have to be so frustrating? The image of them together wouldn't stop. She now wanted to be with him, and that there were just the two of them in the world - at least that way there wouldn't be anyone he could be jealous of. She wasn't impressed by romantism, and still, she discovered more and more how suffering is the main element of love.

Jérémie knew that very well. Who looked at him and Aelita saw the 'perfect couple', but only he knew the nights spent awake, the sleep lost, all work and effort he had to materialize Aelita.

Yumi turned her eyes to them again. Aelita was still talking, unaware of her lack of attention. Jérémie, however, had gone from 'uninterested' to 'distressed'. He couldn't keep his eyes fixed at anything, he moved his hands nervously. It was a completely new environment and he couldn't feel comfortable. It was a room, a place of privacy for its owner. OK, he was already used to Ulrich and Odd's and Aelita's rooms, but he had never gone to Yumi's room. He was afraid to touche, move, do anything different and end up ruining something. And that because her room was well organized.

But... they were really a beautiful couple. Aelita, always somewhat meek and sweet... Jérémie was adorable too.

...there was a dissonance in her train of thought.

Jérémie... adorable?  
She had never taken the time to really look at him. He was like something you see everyday, a commonplace. But now she could see clearly his glasses, a little dirty; his blond hair always perfectly combed with a big forelock; his cheeks slightly pink; his back forming a small arch; his fingers moving as if at an invisible keyboard.  
He wasn't any wonder and certainly no match for Ulrich, but there was something comical and exaggerated in his appearance and manners that made her think he could be even 'cute'.

Yumi rubbed her eyes and shook her head after that thought.

"...so that's why we decided to go on a double date! Are you coming?"

She was pulled away from her thoughts.

"Huh, yeah, sure."  
"Awesome! We're going to have ice cream Saturday afternoon!"

Aelita hugged her and left happily.  
"Shall we go, Jérémie?"  
They held hands. "Bye, Yumi."

She smiled discretly.

* * *

Meanwhile, Odd and Ulrich were talking in their room.

"Ulrich, we need to talk. It's serious."  
"It's already impossible for you to be serious, Odd. When you say it's serious, then..."  
"...Ulrich, it's about Yumi."

His expression froze. Not only Ulrich had problems to talk to Yumi, he also had problems to talk about Yumi.

"Look, you need to accept that Yumi... naturally, that she draws a lot of attention and so..."  
"What do you mean?" he interrupted in an energic tone.  
"Nothing, nothing! Just that she's a girl, and she's pretty and..."  
"Odd, if you keep this up, you'd better get out of here before I regret what I'm going to do."  
"Calm down, Ulrich, it's exactly about this that I'm talking about! You can't keep bursting in anger every time someone looks at her!"  
He looked disgusted, but decided to keep quiet this time.  
"If you let me go on... Yumi is a very beautiful girl and it's natural that she'll stand out."

Ulrich ruminated on the meaning of the words 'very beautiful' and then let out an unexpected question:  
"Would you go out with her?"  
"Me?" He had to think a lot before answering. "I, huh... it's that she's one year ahead of us."  
"That never stopped you. What about Priscilla and Anaïs?"

Unfortunately, 'thinking' and 'Odd' were things that didn't match up.

"But... yeah... she's not my type, you know..."  
"And since when do you care about that? You've already gone out with all sorts of girls!"  
He couldn't deny that. Odd was really a true follower of Don Giovanni.  
"OK, all right, yes! I'd go out with Yumi!"

Ulrich turned red with anger.

"But I respect you too much to even think about it! And, what's more, I have other priorities..."  
"So now you mean she's not important?"  
"No, not that!" He facepalmed. "Ulrich, talking to you is impossible..."  
"Maybe it's because I don't want to talk, Odd. Especially about... about this subject."  
"Ulrich, you can't go on like this forever. You know very well there are more people after her. Like William Dunbar, for exam..."  
"Odd, get out of here. Right now!" he interrupted. "I'm tired of hearing your nonsense!"  
"OK, I'll go. But I'm only telling the truth!"

* * *

The trio met up in the corridor.

"So, how did it go with Yumi?" Odd asked.  
Aelita answered with a smile. "She said yes. We're going to have ice cream on Saturday!"  
"...that is, if Ulrich's willing to cooperate" Jérémie added.  
"Yeah, he kicked me out of his room - our room, I mean! Can you believe it?"  
"Looks like your plan didn't work out after all, Odd." Jérémie said with a snobbish smile.  
"No, Jérémie, we can't give up now! I can convince Ulrich. I think."  
He didn't seem to like the idea very much.  
"Besides, it's my plan too!" She ran off, cheered up.  
Odd smiled. "Aelita really cares a lot about people, don't you think?"  
He raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"  
Odd started to laugh. "Nothing! Forget it!"

She knocked on the door.  
"Who is it..." Ulrich answered, uninterested.  
"Ulrich, it's me, Aelita. Can I come in?"  
"...what do you want?"  
"Er... can I talk to you?"  
"Aelita, Odd's already been here."  
"But... Ulrich, it was Odd. Please?" She realized that letting Odd take care of something was never a good idea.  
"...ok, I'll give you one more chance. Come in."

Their room wasn't exactly the best thing ever, but she tried to make herself comfortable and sat on Odd's bed.

...yeah, definitively the opposite of 'pleasant' and 'nice'.

"Ulrich, I think you already know what brought me here."  
"...yeah, it's about Yumi..."  
"I was talking to her and..."  
That was new information and got his interest. Odd really couldn't do anything right...  
"How about you come have some ice cream with us on Saturday?"  
His hopes lowered a little. "What does that have to do with Yumi?"  
"Because I, Jérémie and Yumi are going! And you two being there, you could chat, spend some time together, that kind of stuff!"

His eyes started to sparkle with the idea. It'd be, then, a date with Yumi...

"But you have to be with her, OK?"  
He got a little embarassed.  
"Eh... what do you mean?"  
"Yeah, you know, every time you're together you two never say anything!"

He was almost jumping from happiness inside him. A date... with Yumi! What he never had the courage to do... finally! The two of them, together!  
Well, Jérémie and Aelita would be there too, but that wasn't a problem. If he could spend half an hour just looking at her, for him, that'd be great...

"OK, Aelita, I'm in. Saturday, right?"  
"Yeah! Thanks, Ulrich! See you there!"

She left the room whistling.

* * *

 **Author's Notes/Post Scriptum:**

 **A longer chapter this time. Sorry for the wait, guys! I've got some 4 more chapters already written, but I was kind of busy, so I didn't have the time to translate it. Well, this should keep on running now.**

 **Anyway. Translating always leaves a bad taste in my mouth. There's always a lot of minor details that get changed or removed... It seems like the result is never good enough.**

 **I was actually planning a oneshot in the beginning, but the text is already almost 40 pages long. And, for some reason, I always feel that the plot progression is too slow, but it's just me... at least there were some interesting new events this chapter. If you're paying attention to the details, I think you might even find out what I'm up to in the story, haha!**


	5. Chapter 5

That night, Yumi kept thinking about Ulrich and their date on Saturday.

It was a little suspicious that Jérémie and Aelita would came with such a sudden opportunity. Hm. She didn't need their help to get a date with Ulrich! She could do that alone, without any problems. She didn't because she didn't want to.  
Or she did want to and couldn't? Of course not. One word from her and Ulrich would be ready to do her will.  
Or... maybe he'd get mad because he'd think she would be disrespecting him? Who knows. The only issue was that he was too stubborn. Always hiding behind a rebellious posture, he got easily mad at anything.  
And they were just good friends. That would be a date between friends. Except for Jérémie and Aelita, who were boyfriend and girlfriend. Right. And she had made the decision for them to remain just friends.  
It was better that way. When Ulrich got more mature and put aside his sick jealousy, then she could finally be with him.

Ah, who was she kidding. She wanted to be with Ulrich now. "Now", as in "in that exact time and place"?

Yes. The two of them, finally, without any fear, shyness, embarassment or jealousy. Maybe it didn't even need to be in her room. It could be somewhere more romantic.  
Well, for now, the perspective was some ice cream. It was an opportunity. But she had to make everything go right. It couldn't be just ice cream with Ulrich - it would have to be more than that.  
She'd need help from someone who knew Ulrich, in order to understand him and know how to act while at his side. How to break that invisible barrier that insisted on keeping them apart.

Someone really close to Ulrich... Odd?  
She giggled audibly. He was, quite literally, the worst person in dealing with relationships and love. Asking someone who couldn't make a 'relationship' last longer than two days? Please.

So... why not Aelita? ...no, she neither. They were friends, but very different. Aelita was sweet and adorable; she, however, mysterious, reserved, even 'dark'. It went well with Ulrich's closed, apathetic and explosive temperament.  
Besides, Aelita didn't understand people very well. Her only friends were they, the Lyoko Warriors. And her only passion was Jérémie...  
...that wasn't such a bad idea.  
What idea? Jérémie? The school's most introverted, antisocial, weird, misfit, cute guy, giving relationship advice?  
There was that word again. Jérémie, cute. Before, it had been adorable. She was probably sleepy. Well, but that wasn't so wrong. His blond hair had a certain charm and...

No, no, she was getting out of subject! She needed help with Ulrich!  
...but Jérémie knew Ulrich. Already much better than Odd.  
She was really going to do that? Ask Jérémie for help? Wouldn't it be much better to gather her courage and go without help?  
Talking to Jérémie was already an act of courage. But what would she say? "I need you to help me go out with Ulrich"? She had managed to make her situation even more complicated.

But still, why not go talk to Jérémie? He had already helped her study. It wasn't possible that he could make even worse what was already falling apart.  
They were friends, weren't they? Friends like her and Ulrich. Well, not exactly like that.  
She decided to make up her mind. It would be better to talk to Jérémie soon. Such was her desire to be with Ulrich.

...but she didn't realize there was also a sneaky, stowaway wish to see Jérémie.

* * *

A hand met the door to Jérémie's room.

"Come in", he said calmly.  
"Ah, it's you, Yumi. Need more help with math?"  
"No, I already did the test. Oh, and I got a B-. Thanks!"  
"Just that?" he thought, but found it better not to say anything. "Then what's up?"  
"Well... you know the date next Saturday?"  
He smiled. "Of course."  
"So... it's that I'm going with Ulrich, and... you know, I..."  
"And I'm going with Aelita!" He seemed very happy.  
"It's that I'd like to ask you, er... how do I say this... you're Ulrich's friend, right?"  
"...yeah, I am. At least I think I am" now he was confused too.  
"Great! Huh, I mean, it's that, being his friend, you know Ulrich well and... look, you know that..."

From then on, no clear words came from her mind.  
She started to reconsider. She was really going to do this?  
Jérémie gave her a confused glance. She was silent and still. She looked like she was trying to make some effort, but it wasn't really possible to know what for.

...better do this quickly.

"Jérémie, I want you to help me with Ulrich!"

He jumped. "W-what do you mean?"  
"It's... that you know Ulrich well, and you and Aelita always look so great together, a-and I thought you could help me get out of this situation with him, and..."  
"...what 'situation'? Ah... that you're just friends?"  
Her reaction was instinctive and almost instantaneous. "That's right, we're just good friends!"  
Now she looked disappointed. "You see, that's why I need help..."  
"And w-why didn't you ask Aelita?"  
"Eh... Aelita's very nice, but... she doesn't know Ulrich very well, and we're very different... and we're also in very different situations, she wouldn't understand me, you know..."  
"No, I don't know! And y-you thought I would?"  
"Trying is free, right? And it's way better than talking to Odd!"

He had to agree. Still, the pieces didn't fit in. OK, he was always ready to help anyone who needed some aid with studying. But... with relationships? He was so reclusive and introverted that he almost smelled like mold. If it weren't for Lyoko, he probably wouldn't have any friends. And he wouldn't have met Aelita, even less fallen in love with her...  
He couldn't understand much about people. Numbers were so much easier to deal with... that's why he was the least qualified person to be a 'counselor'.

"Is this serious, Yumi?"

Jérémie had also never really 'seen' Yumi. First, because he was afraid and ashamed to look at people. Especially girls. Second, his eyes were for Aelita only. Third, she was his friend.  
But now, there were they, face to face, she with an... uncommon favor to ask and he without a book to hide in. Even though he tried to avert his eyes, there was no escape. She filled his whole field of vision.  
She was about 15cm taller than him, so that he had to look up in order to see her face. His first impression was 'this is so different than Aelita...' But... different in what way? Her straight, dark hair that swayed in the wind... her delicate and deep eyes... the expression on her face... her slightly rebel and reserved ways... her... eh...  
Jérémie's mind was flooded. That's why he avoided looking at people! He wanted... wanted to...  
No, he wanted to get lost immediately, to hide under his bed. He took his glasses off and held his head with his hands, as if it would fall down and roll about.

"...Jérémie, are you all right?"

No, he wasn't all right. He wanted to explode. Disappear.  
That voice made him even more confused. What would he do now? Run away? Stay? Say 'no'?  
Calm down, Jérémie, calm down, Jérémie, calm down...  
He rubbed his eyes and sighed.

"...it must be hard to believe, but it's really serious, Jérémie."

He tried to collect his thoughts. Right, Yumi, right there in his room, with a request. To help her. Yumi. With Ulrich. The two, Yumi and Ulrich.  
Hm, maybe it wasn't such a bad idea. Before meeting Ulrich, she also didn't have any friends. She also had always like solitude more than company. And, unlike Odd and Ulrich, she was a dedicated student.

Maybe they actually had some things in common.

It wasn't common of Jérémie to refuse to help anyone. He had always been helpful. The problem, of course, was usually when his impatience and eventual arrogance ruined his help.  
But this time it was impossible for him to be snobby - after all, he didn't know practically anything about the subject. And that was the reason he couldn't say 'yes'. It was unchartered territory.

He took some time to do what he never did: look her in the eyes.

And, for an instant, his doubts disappeared, only to reappear even stronger.  
What kept him from saying 'yes'? After all, she should be conscious of what she was doing.  
And there was nothing to it. He'd simply help her with Ulrich. Just that. No danger, nothing to fear.

...or at least, that's what they thought.

Summoning all the little braveness he had, he declared, with his face turning red:

"It's, huh, OK, Yumi. I... I'll help you with Ulrich."

She let out a small smile.

* * *

 **Author's Notes/Post Scriptum:**

 **So, yeah, this is it. That was not a good idea and it's definitively not going to end well.**

 **This is how stories like 'The Elective Affinities' start, guys. (But wasn't that obvious already?)**


	6. Chapter 6

"Right... so what do I do now?" asked Jérémie.  
"What do you mean you don't know?"  
"...I was supposed to?"  
"Of course! The only reason why I came here is because I don't!"  
"OK... huh... I guess you could begin... by saying 'good morning' when you saw him."  
She tried changing her tone of voice a little. "Good morning, Ulrich!"  
"...no, no, that's too high, too 'sweet', it even sounds like..."  
...Aelita. But he found it better not to finish that phrase.  
"Listen, just be yourself."  
She tried again. "...good morning, Ulrich."  
Ah, yes. That went perfectly with the person and the personality.  
"OK, and what now?"  
"Ahn, now... you try to start a conversation."  
"About what?"  
"I don't know... anything you two like..."

They talked for a while, but didn't seem to get anywhere.  
"This isn't doing anything, Jérémie."  
"...well, I tried to warn you."  
"Man, Jérémie, thanks a lot, you're really helping me!"  
"OK, OK, no need t-to get all worked up!" He made a confused expression. After all, what did she want? If she knew they wouldn't get anywhere, it wasn't even worth trying.  
"You know Ulrich's not much for talking. So..."  
She seemed a little ashamed.  
"...what do you mean?"  
"It's just... I think it w-would be better if... if we jumped straight to the practical stuff..."  
That was getting a little weird. What did she mean with 'practical stuff'? He had to catch his breath for a moment. If that meant what he was thinking, no, he couldn't do that.  
"Yumi, I t-think I can't..."  
She also didn't know why she was going in that direction. She just wanted to be with Ulrich.  
And those were the lengths she was willing to go in order to achieve that?  
No, it wasn't like that. Asking Jérémie for help wouldn't actually help anything.  
It was a desire that she hadn't figured out exactly yet. A flash in her mind... a flash like the reflex in Jérémie's glasses.  
...she got a hold of herself again. Or at least she thought so.  
"Jérémie, it's OK. There's no problem if you don't want to..."  
He was shaking a little. "But I do!"...he took his words back. "Er, no, actually, I can't... you can't, Yumi. It's too... risky."  
"Risky? Jérémie, this isn't a XANA attack."  
"I know! It's that... just imagine the trouble we'd be into if anybody saw us... even if we're only talking... being here is already dangerous."  
Yumi thought a bit and concluded: "If that's the question, I think I have an idea..."  
Jérémie was afraid of what could happen.

* * *

The two met in a secretive place in the school park where they wouldn't have to worry about being seen by anyone. Well, so they thought.

Yumi had chosen the place. It was a very closed area with several trees. She went there sometimes when she needed to be alone. The scenery was very beautiful and conveyed a certain feeling... of being alone in nature. William once told her that he had read a specific word for that in one of those poems of his.  
The environment seemed familiar for Jérémie, but he couldn't recognize anything among the confusion of fear, worrying and anxiety that swirled in his mind.  
"Let's go walking a bit", suggested Yumi.  
Averting his gaze, Jérémie began his lesson:  
"Well, you have to look at him, I think, you know, smiling, so he can get a good look at your face and..."  
"Like this?" She smiled at him. And he had to look.  
It wasn't an adorable smile like Aelita's. But it was a pleasant smile. A timid and mysterious smile. And now he couldn't stop looking too.  
Fear and anxiety were growing and new feelings messed even more his confused head.  
"...yeah, yes, it's great, I think Ulrich won't, ha, resist, and..."  
He stopped talking and decided just to look.

What was going on there?  
They both started to regret that.  
Why did the woods have to be so beautiful, so... lonely, so...  
...inviting, closed, suffocating, inebriating...?

He was drowning and didn't know exactly in what. In the smile, in the eyes...?  
His brain screamed 'run', but his legs refused to move.  
She didn't seem to realize any of that. In fact, her thought wasn't shaky, but blurred. Her mind was directed towards Ulrich, and then she opened her eyes and Ulrich was distant - there was only Jérémie there. She closed her eyes and thought of Ulrich, but heard Jérémie. As if both were simultaneously illusion and reality.  
After all, that was all for Ulrich, but with Jérémie. It was like wanting to be with Ulrich, but being with Jérémie.  
And if she had the courage to be with Jérémie, why wouldn't she have it when she were with Ulrich?

"And if when we're walking, I go by Ulrich's side and..."  
"Y-Yumi!"  
She held his hand, which was shaky and a bit sweaty. And he started not feeling very well.

* * *

All of that would have been an isolated incident, something never to be brought up again, if only it weren't for a small problem. That was one of the places were Jérémie and Aelita used to go walking, one of their favorites.  
Aelita was contemplating the scenery: the trees, the birds, Jérémie holding hands with Yumi...  
She went back to that thought. What?  
The phrase "Jérémie holding hands with" could only be completed with a limited set of words, such as "his mother" or "Aelita".  
That was an impossibility. First because Jérémie practically never left his room. Even less in company. Of a girl, to top if off.  
That was already the second problem: Jérémie with a girl. It wasn't easy getting him to go out with her, and she was his girlfriend. Ignoring, of course, his shyness and crippling anxiety. To overcome these two factors, something of extreme importance must have happened.  
But the biggest problem was the third point: Jérémie holding hands. He didn't like any kind of personal contact - again, even somewhat with her, his own girlfriend. All in that scene was completely opposite to his personality.

"Jérémie holding hands with Yumi". Her mind ceased all activity to try to process the event.  
She looked again. Now he was lying down on the ground with his eyes closed and Yumi's hand seemed to rest on his face.

She rubbed her eyes. Twice.  
Three times. Four. Five...

He opened his eyes and Yumi hugged him. Then she looked sideways and left. Jérémie scratched his head, stood up and went the other way.

Had it all been an illusion?  
Jérémie and Yumi alone in the park holding hands?  
She had seen it all with her own eyes. It was too clear.  
She thought it would be better to lie down to collect her thoughts.

* * *

Aelita wasn't sure of what had happened, but certainly there had to be a very good explanation in order for it all just to be a misunderstanding.  
Two relatively distant friends simply didn't held hands alone.  
And from all angles she tried looking at it, it just didn't make sense.

Maybe a XANA attack?  
No, it didn't look like it. He'd have used a more energic tactic. Just holding hands was too candid and simple.  
And if it really were XANA, then which one of the two was real? Neither Jérémie nor Yumi would fall for something that simple. Either both were possessed by XANA and we just wanted to go for a walk in the park, or they were really taking a walk in the park.

She didn't want to believe it, but the same idea kept returning to her thoughts. Jérémie and Yumi going out behind the scenes?  
It couldn't be true. She was torn between her doubt and her disbelief.

Didn't she trust Jérémie enough to know for a fact that he was incapable of that? Jérémie, the boy who worked non-stop to rescue her, who had never left her side, who moved all forces and possibilities to please her?  
Yumi, her best and only girl friend, the only one with whom she could share her secrets, who understood her emotions and feelings better than everyone else? Her confident, who always had been there for her, even when Jérémie wasn't?

She didn't want to feed that doubt. She couldn't. Her experience wouldn't let her. There had to be an explanation to solve everything.  
And even so, some kind of bothering spirit in the corner of her mind showed her what she had seen and couldn't deny. It was an obvious scene.  
It wasn't freaking out just because of holding hands. It went deeper than that. If she couldn't trust Jérémie, if it really had all been just for show, simple pretending, then she couldn't trust anyone. Anything.  
Now her mind started to spin. She held the pillow to her head.

* * *

"Hi, Aelita. Everything OK?" He smiled as he always did and didn't even notice the confused expression on her face.  
"Good morning, Jérémie". Her voice sounded somewhat dampened.

Ah, Aelita. That face and that voice could simply do away with all his doubts and worries. He kept smiling and looking at her.

...hm, there was something different that day. Her face whas the same, but... he couldn't exactly point out what has bothering him.  
His memory flashed, and, suddenly, he saw himself with her in the park.  
So that's why he found that place so familiar...  
He started to feel guilty for having been with Yumi where he and Aelita used to go out.  
Thinking again, he felt guilty for having been with Yumi, even if he hadn't understood what had happened, or what he did, or what she wanted.  
A bothering thought crossed his mind. Given that Aelita also knew that place, what if... she had seen them?  
It was best to just act as usual. But now his thought was already tainted. He wouldn't be able to keep it cool.  
"Jérémie, did you go to the park yesterday?" she asked in an investigative tone.  
"No! I mean, yes! I was... helping Yumi with... ha... botanics!"  
"Ah, yes, I get it" was her direct answer. "I guess holding hands is a good example", she continued ironically.  
His cheeks turned a little red. He needed to have absolute care with what he'd say. But care is worthless if you aren't sensible.  
"Aelita, I..." He noticed that she was leaving and yelled: "I can explain! Wait for me!"  
She stopped and turned. She was angry, but not mad.  
"Aelita, Yumi... she wanted... she asked me... you know, Ulrich, and... helping..."  
She should have realized that Jérémie couldn't have thought of something like that. Well, Yumi also couldn't, but, between the two, it would more likely come from her.  
"So it was all her idea?" She looked a little worried.  
"No... yes! Well, yes, it's that she wanted... wanted me to help her... with Ulrich, and... I passed out, and... she... she..."  
She must really have been desperate because of Ulrich, thought Aelita. But why Jérémie? And more, why did he say yes? He didn't have the courage for that.  
"She... the hand, and I..." He started panting. Something popped in his memory.  
He didn't want to remember what had happened, he was ashamed to, he couldn't, he remembered clearly. He didn't want to talk about it, it was a bad memory -  
It was a good memory.  
It was unforgettable.  
How?  
He was about to pass out again.  
He took a deep breath, pressed his fingers against his temples and started talking again.  
"Aelita, Yumi asked me if I could help her with Ulrich. We went to the park, she held my hand, and I... passed out..."  
She had already learned how to live with Jérémie's manners and flaws. He was telling the truth, even if that was still too weird.  
She could read faces, but not thoughts.

Yumi...

She calmed down. For now, it sufficed. She really did trust them enough to accept the explanation. But she'd keep her eyes wide open to any suspicious behavior or action.  
She wanted to trust more, to really trust Jérémie.  
But her doubt was a very strong barrier to be broken.

* * *

 **Author's Notes/Post Scriptum:**

 **Sorry for the wait. I've been really busy these past few weeks. But, hey, it's here!  
Hope you like it. Ah, and sorry for any typos.**


	7. Chapter 7

Saturday arrived without much trouble. It was the day when they had arranged to go for some ice cream. Both couples.  
Yumi was uneasy. She and Ulrich weren't a 'couple'. At least not officially. They were like two magnets that, in spite of all effort, never touched.  
But there was another reason. Jérémie. The situation was calmer, but, still, it didn't matter how much effort she made, she couldn't forget that day.  
What, because she was liking Jérémie? The thought of it made her laugh. No, she wanted to forget the shame. Shame of having tried something like that. Shame of being with him and getting caught.  
Shame of not being able to forget.  
Shame of still having the scene on her mind...  
She needed to change her focus, and fast.  
...What would Ulrich do if he knew what happened?  
No, it was better not to think about that too. Surely it wouldn't end well for Jérémie or for her. Maybe not even for Aelita...  
She decided to put the subject aside and get ready for the date. She was going to meet with Ulrich at the school gates soon.

Jérémie and Aelita also hadn't forgotten, but none of the two spoke about it. For Aelita, the memory manifested itself in the slight distrust she now had with Jérémie. He noticed that and understood it, but it wasn't easy for him. It was as if Aelita now wasn't at his side anymore, as if she were distant. Not 'distant' like when she was trapped on Lyoko: it was a different kind of distance, an intransponible kind that seemed to divide his soul in half. She was right at his side and yet he seemed to feel lonely.  
For Jérémie, the memory was also a recurring vision that he wanted to forget once and for all. He couldn't look at Yumi anymore. Why did he have to say 'yes'? Maybe he wasn't himself that day. Never again would he accept to help any girl with anything. Except Aelita, of course.  
Well, maybe if Yumi asked politely, he...  
No. It was a nightmare. His tiny world, so tight and regular, seemed to fall apart and he didn't know what to do, to think, to feel anymore.

It was a dream and he was falling on her arms...

No!  
He felt as if he was going mad.

"Let's go, Jérémie?"  
Aelita. Aelita! Only she could rescue him from this abyss. But she didn't want to. She was just making him sink even more. He needed her to trust him again. If not, he'd be lost.  
Now was the time to try to fix everything. He stood up, smiled, and followed her.

* * *

The four of them met in a small ice cream place. Jérémie and Aelita were holding hands, while Yumi and Ulrich walked side by side. She smiled at him the same way she had done with Jérémie, and Ulrich seemed absolutely charmed and hypnotized. Aelita cheered up: it looked like things were actually working out between the two of them. Jérémie had really said the truth. She rested her head on his shoulder and let out a wide smile.  
Ah, now this was a much more comfortable situation. He was with Aelita again.  
They bought their ice cream and sat around a square table, each one in one side, in a way that the couples faced each other.

'More comfortable', what a lie. Jérémie couldn't look straight at anyone. Across him was Aelita's face. She was having a friendly conversation with Yumi - at least it seemed friendly.  
Her tone sounded different. He wasn't losing himself amidst the once sweet and angelic voice.  
...but had her voice changed or he was the one that was different?  
He decided it was better to set his eyes on his ice cream. Looking forward would be the most natural thing to do, but he was uncomfortable. What sort of craziness was that? Just what he needed. One idiot decision and he had ruined his life.  
He tried shooting a discrete look to the side.  
Wrong side. It was just Ulrich. His ice cream had barely been touched and was already melting. Yumi absorbed all his attention.  
He made another attempt at the other side. Yumi was dividing her time in talking to Aelita and looking at Ulrich. He started to wonder if they didn't comunicate by telepathy, judging by the way they exchanged looks.  
For a brief moment, he thought he had seen her return the attention.  
Well, it wasn't anything important. People look at each other all the time, and everything was done discretly.

"Jérémie, why are your cheeks getting red?", asked Aelita.  
...damn it.  
Ulrich, who was still looking at Yumi, also noticed the sudden mood change.  
...once again, damn it.  
Aelita stared at each one of the three: Ulrich, Jérémie, Yumi...  
At. It was that? No, it couldn't be. Not this Jérémie and Yumi thing again. He didn't turn red for anything.  
...and this was the second time. He just needed to pass out again.  
She frowned, but thought better not to say anything... for now.  
It wasn't a matter of doubt or trust anymore. That had happened live, in front of her eyes. Only if it had been an optical illusion, a red reflex on his face.  
She, like the other three, still didn't know exactly what was that. But she knew that it was Jérémie with another girl.  
Jérémie and Yumi. She felt again her trust being betrayed twice, but now it was stronger. Now she was sure of it. Well, almost sure.  
She was going to find out what was going on between the pair.  
Ulrich, on the other hand, looked a little confused and indignated. "What's going on?"  
Jérémie tried to hide it. "I... think it was the ice cream..."  
The cold shoulder Aelita was giving him was worse than the ice cream. She turned around and broke the silence.  
"Ulrich, did you know our friends were alone at the park this week?"  
Yumi gasped quietly.  
"What do you mean?", continued Ulrich.  
"Maybe you'd like to answer this yourself, Yumi?"  
"...it's true, Ulrich, I was with Jérémie at the park..."  
His eyes opened wide.  
"...but it's not what you're thinking. It was because of you, Ulrich..."  
Jérémie only observed, a little afraid.  
"Ah yes, that story about helping you with Ulrich... I imagine how much of that is true..." Aelita said cynically.  
"You told her?" Yumi yelled, red with embarassment.  
"You wanted me to do what? You wanted me to lie?"  
"OK, so you asked Jérémie for 'help', only him, without telling anyone, all secretly?" Aelita asked, again ironically.  
Ulrich watched the discussion confused. It wasn't entirely unlike Yumi, but it wasn't also 100% plausible. "Better than asking Odd for help", he thought.  
"...looks more like an excuse to go out with him.", said Aelita with a certain coldness, staring at Jérémie. She usually didn't react like that, but her jealousy mixed with the heated discussion was having its effects.  
Ulrich giggled, while Yumi turned red again. Irritated, she said:  
"Go out with Jérémie? Are you listening to yourself right now? Everybody knows I've always been in love with Ulrich!"  
...now he was red too, but didn't risk saying a word.  
She, however, took some time to rethink what she had said. Well, not exactly what she'd said, but what she hadn't said. Something that almost came out of her mouth, but that she didn't find the courage to say.  
"I'd never go out with Jérémie!"  
Maybe 'never' was really a word too strong to be used.  
After all, why wouldn't she go out with him? He was a nice person. His knowledge about technology made an interesting counterpoint to hers about literature and poetry. He had never been mean to her. Never worrying too much about his appearance, closed inside his little world, hiding behind his round glasses. Sometimes a little dirty, sometimes a little unaligned...  
For much less, she talked with William. Wait, 'less' of what?  
She took the risk of talking.  
"...and still, why couldn't I go out with Jérémie? We're friends, aren't we?"  
Ulrich hesitaded a little and then agreed. Not because they were friends, but because it was Jérémie. After all, they saw each other almost every day anyway. There were no problems in a friendship with him. With William Dunbar, well, that's a whole other story...  
Jérémie thought a little on the meaning of the word 'friends'. Yes, the five Lyoko Warriors were friends.  
...they were a group of friends, but they weren't friends. There was a strong, common bond between them, but not mutual relationships, with the exceptions of him and Aelita and Ulrich and Yumi. Well, strictly speaking, he and Yumi weren't 'friends' - at least, that's not what he thought. That's why it was weird that she had gone to talk to him.  
Maybe she was just trying to build this bridge, this friendship.  
...or more than a friendship? It was really a suspicious behavior...  
Where did that thought come from?  
He had never paid much attention to other people. Besides his problems with social interactions, he only cared, basically, for Aelita.  
And, suddenly, getting to know Yumi was something that wasn't only crossing his mind, but also didn't look so distant or uninteresting.  
Aelita was the only one disagreeing. She wasn't as jealous as Jérémie, but there was something in that story that didn't leave her alone.  
If they were friends, there was no reason to worry, right?  
In theory, yes. But Yumi being so close to Jérémie bothered her a little.  
Between Yumi and her there was also a strong friendship. They would often get together to talk about various subjects, like school, other students, clothes, even personal issues.  
Only one topic was never mentioned: their love lives. Aelita never talked about Jérémie and Yumi never talked about Ulrich. Maybe they understood these were too personal.  
Or maybe she just didn't want Yumi near Jérémie. Maybe she was... afraid. Honestly, Yumi could be a little intimidating.  
She was almost her opposite: one colorful, the other dark; one cheerful, the other mysterious; one adorable and sweet, the other reserved and (apparently) bitter; one, a faithful companion, the other, independent.  
But she was actually an amazing friend. Maybe that was her reason to worry - that Jérémie might discover this other side of hers...

All these thoughts took place in a few seconds.  
"Friends holding hands, right?" Aelita continued.  
Ulrich frowned again. Jérémie and Yumi blushed.  
"A-Aelita, she already told you it was because of Ulrich..."  
"Now you're on her side too?"  
"B-but it's the truth!"  
Ulrich didn't know whether to laugh or to worry. The 'in love with Ulrich' thing had gotten him a little lost.  
"Yumi, you have to admit it wasn't a very smart idea..." he said with a half-smile. "I mean, Jérémie...?"  
It really had been a dumb idea. But a dumb idea they couldn't forget.  
Didn't want to forget.  
Yumi let out a sigh and said: "Yeah, but it would even have worked if Jérémie hadn't passed out and if nobody saw it..."  
There was no sarcasm in those last words, but Aelita threw an angry look at her direction.  
The silence was uncomfortable and awkward.  
Yumi broke it a few minutes later, standing up.  
"Well, I already finished my ice cream. Ulrich, can you walk me home?" She smiled.  
And her smile put his doubts to rest. "S-sure..."  
The ice cream date had accomplished its original goal, but with some undesired side effects.  
Aelita returned to her room with her arms crossed; Jérémie, hunched, hands in pockets.

* * *

 **Author's Notes/Post Scriptum:**

 **I'm writing this with a horrible headache. Hope you guys like it anyway!**


	8. Chapter 8

That night, Jérémie took a while to fall asleep. He couldn't stop thinking about what had happened at the ice cream date.  
Well, not just that. But all of it. All that he could remember. He was trying to recall the whole situation from the start.  
Hm... "Diary of Jérémie Belpois, Kadic Academy..."  
Yeah, maybe not that start. But he was really in love with Aelita ever since he met her. It was almost at first sight.  
An impossible romance, split between two worlds. And he did his best to bring her to Earth.  
Ever since, Aelita and Jérémie were together. Sure, they weren't free from problems, but the general image was that of a perfect couple. They got along well, chatted, were there for each other, in short: they loved each other. And even though she could complain about his lack of consideration, he cared a lot for her. A lot more than for other people, at least.  
But it had been a few days that Jérémie wasn't feeling the strength of their commitment anymore, even though they were together. Aelita's attitude had confirmed that something was definitively out of place. Unbalanced.

So, who had changed?

Their relationship was grounded on a solid and mutual trust... and it was hard to know who had been the first one to break it.  
His first conclusion came fast: surely, Aelita. After all, she was taking her distance without any clear reason. Well, without a good reason. She said it was because of Yumi.  
But why, if they were friends? And if he and Yumi were friends too?  
Certainly there was no ground for jealousy there.

...well, what a hypocrite he was. He had done worse because of Ulrich. Even then, it wasn't a reaction he expected from her.  
That's why she had changed. He hadn't done anything different. He had just been with Yumi and...  
He collected his thoughts. What was he thinking? Holding hands with Yumi in the park wasn't common or normal!  
And even so he had done that. Remorse? Maybe for getting caught.

Actually, he was the one who had changed. He was changing...

He didn't want to forget anymore. All the blurriness in his mind was slowly focusing - but the image wasn't the same as before.  
Not that he wasn't shy or ashamed anymore. But that new experience had already sunk in, and now Aelita was losing ground.  
Naturally, he just needed to realize it.  
He was remembering the day at the park. But only one image crossed his thoughts.

Yumi's smile.

The same smile in the ice cream date. But it wasn't for him, it was for Ulrich.  
He couldn't have it. It was wrong. It wasn't his. It was forbidden. And, more than thinking, he wanted it. Just like he had wanted Aelita a couple of years ago.  
Aelita. Right! She was his girlfriend... but... she wouldn't mind a friend's smile...  
Or was it more than that? Holding hands was more than a smile. And they were friends too - wouldn't it be good if he were more friends with Yumi, if they knew each other better? Wouldn't Aelita be happy with her two friends being happy?  
The words "more than that" echoed. More than a smile... more than holding hands... more than a friend...?  
Maybe he was starting to understand Aelita: now he was suspicious of his own intentions. This desire to get to know Yumi wasn't exactly... 'friendly'. It also wasn't something that consumed him, but it was taking a good part of his time.  
...OK, he didn't know precisely what he was feeling for Yumi, but he knew that he was definitively feeling something. His days and his thoughts didn't follow the strict routine of a couple weeks before. Something had changed... and it was himself. And he had to find out what that feeling was.

...Aelita. His girlfriend. Yes, he had feelings for her, and... how to explain she was now sharing the same place with Yumi? Jérémie's heart (or was it his mind?) wasn't that big. Some would say it was his lack of consideration.  
He decided not to do anything, at least for now. It was better to be sure of what was happening first. What's more, Aelita was already suspicious - and the distance she had taken from him just helped stir his feelings even more. Jérémie liked being in control, and anything that escaped normality put him upside down.

Tomorrow, he'd try to make the situation clearer. Now, he was sleepy.  
And he didn't know if Aelita or Yumi was in his dreams.

* * *

Yumi had just finished writing on her diary and was lying down.  
She seemed happy with her day. She got to spend some time with Ulrich and they had a pleasant chat on the way home. Everything was going just fine.  
Yet she couldn't help but feel a little sorry for Jérémie because of the incident. It was so bad to see such a lovely couple fighting.  
And she also couldn't help but blame herself for what had happened. She had asked Jérémie for help. She had been with him at the park. And she had made him pass out.  
Most importantly, she had smiled at him at the ice cream date.  
Well, she couldn't have foreseen the consequences. She had already smiled at him a ton of times; why did he have to blush on this day?  
Maybe 'a ton' was exaggerating it. Usually she'd just see Jérémie when he needed to talk about serious stuff. So her smile was uncommon, but not enough to make him blush.

Those were the questions that were really important: Why did she smile and why did he blush?

The first one didn't seem too hard to answer. In fact, she had already answered it: they were friends, there's nothing wrong with friends smiling!  
OK, she wasn't satisfied. That answer was worth only half a point. She wasn't being completely honest with herself.  
Right. It's that when she looked at his face, so comical and yet adorable, with a touch of shyness and discomfort... and when her eyes met his, even though they were smaller because of the glasses, the smile, in a slow and sweet manner, simply started to appear.  
And maybe Jérémie would even smile back.  
...she started to realize that his face was becoming a frequent image in her head. But that's OK, they were good friends. (She barely noticed the difference the word 'good' made). It was all normal. She and Ulrich were also good friends.

Yumi's definition of 'friendship' wasn't the usual one.

A couple of days before, they would have been only Lyoko Warriors. But since that afternoon studying math, she saw that Jérémie was a person worth knowing. Someone that could enrich her circle of few friends and relationships.  
And, in fact, they really held hands at the park. Something that requires well-acquainted people... but hadn't she done all that because of Ulrich?  
At least, she thought she had. Or better, she had thought she had: memories never correspond exactly to reality. Only to our interpretation of it. And now she was already seeing her request in the light of her current feelings.  
Sure, she had really done that because of Ulrich. It's just that now she realized that it was also an opportunity to get to know Jérémie, to be closer to him.

Too close, maybe?

If she and Jérémie were friends in the same way she and Ulrich were, then something had definitively changed. Inside her, but also inside him.

That brought her to the second question: why he blushed. But only he could answer this one; she could just speculate.  
Had it been a look too incisive? Or a too obvious smile?  
Maybe even a memory from the day at the park...?  
Thinking about the possibilities became some kind of entertainment. She started to have fun imagining what had made Jérémie blush.  
And even about what would make him blush again. Laugh a little at his expense...

Of course, this was all innocent fun, wasn't it? She thought so.  
But not only we aren't always honest with ourselves, many times we can't even know our real intentions.

She knew she had to see Jérémie the next day.

* * *

 **Author's Notes/Post Scriptum:**

 **So, another chapter up. This is kind of a turning point isn't? Well, even though it's a big curve. I like stories that go at a slower pace.**


	9. Chapter 9

Odd was already on his second breakfast.  
"Do you really have to make so much noise while you eat?" asked Ulrich, sitting at the other side of the table. He seemed annoyed.  
He answered chewing a piece of toast: "It's that... I believe... food should be... appreciated... through all senses!"  
He smelled his juice before taking a sip.  
Ulrich grunted and turned his face. Odd's relationship with food was really weird.  
He also saw something weird through the window: Yumi. Not that Yumi was weird, but it was weird that she was there at that hour. She always had breakfast at her house and only came to school when classes were about to start.  
She entered the cafeteria and sat by Ulrich's side. "Good morning, guys", she said, a little sleepy. "Where are Jérémie and Aelita?"  
"You woke up before them!" Odd said with a smile. "So, what brings you here so early?"  
"My parents left early today too", she answered. "There wasn't anything to eat there."  
"So why did you sit down without getting any food?"  
She hesitated a little. "It's... I'm not hungry!"  
Odd simply shrugged, unable to understand the meaning of what he had just heard. Ulrich just looked at her with a small smile.  
She retributed the attention, but seemed a little more interested in observing the cafeteria's door, as if expecting someone.

Aelita arrived, got some hot chocolate and sat down at the end of the table. Not that she liked that spot in particular, but she didn't have the patience to stand the noises Odd was making.  
Her expression that morning was of a not uncommon tiredness. She usually woke up that way when she still had her nightmares and visions, so no one noticed her lack of excitement.  
"Good morning, Aelita! How's it going?" Odd said, cheerful as ever, licking some jam.  
She answered with a sigh and drank her chocolate.  
She took the opportunity to throw an indiscrete look at Yumi, but she was talking to Ulrich and didn't notice it.  
Odd, however, didn't take long to smell trouble and decided that it could be as interesting as food.  
Jérémie entered the cafeteria as clumsy as a malfunctioning guided missile, looking for his friends' table. He almost forgot to get food, but stopped for a glass of orange juice, a slice of bread and some butter.  
He got to the table. The only seat left was at Odd's side... and in front of Yumi.  
Jérémie and Aelita sighed almost in synchrony. A brief silence followed, which was broken, logically, by Odd.  
"So, Einstein, another exciting night with the computer?"  
"Eh... yeah..."  
He really hadn't slept very well that night, but he had barely turned on his computer.  
"Good morning, Jérémie", Yumi said naturally.  
Aelita rolled her eyes and Odd opened them wide, smirking.  
Jérémie made an effort to keep his cool and managed to say "Good morning, guys" with a smile.  
He saw that Aelita was frowning, but... he didn't owe her any explanations. Jérémie's analytical rationalization was already working again.  
He hadn't done anything wrong. Therefore, he did not have guilt, and so, did not have to apologize. Especially not to Aelita's unfounded jealousy.  
Really, Jérémie didn't understand much about consideration, people or even hypocrisy.  
It seemed as if he and Aelita came to an agreement of ignoring each other.  
If he still had feelings for her? Of course he did. That's not the kind of thing that disappears in one day.  
It's that, behind the rationalist nerd act, Jérémie was actually quite impulsive. He was fully aware not only of the feelings between he and Aelita, but also his commitment to her.  
However, his curiosity and will hardly respected any obstacles. Now, he had dedicated more than a year to Aelita's materialization - that proved how determined he was.  
He continued with an innocent smile adressed to Aelita. She, however, thought it better to resume drinking her chocolate.  
"Huh, you got here early today, Yumi", Jérémie said, stuttering a bit.  
Before she could answer, Odd interrupted: "She came earlier to meet with a special someone!"  
Yumi got a little embarassed. After all, that wasn't a complete lie. Odd let out a loud laugh.  
"That's not it!" she tried to explain herself in a hurry. "My parents had to leave early today."  
Looked like her explanation had lost its strength after Odd's joke.  
The rest of the conversation followed as always: school, Lyoko, Odd's love adventures...  
Well, not so much as always. Once in a while, Yumi giggled a bit, besides Odd's constant smile and Aelita's frown.  
It's that Yumi, seeing Jérémie's face, turned her thoughts back to last night - that is, laughing a bit at his expense. And it was already working, even though she hadn't done anything.  
But it wouldn't be enough. A couple of minutes before breakfast was over, she decided to put her plans to work and poked Jérémie.  
OK, maybe 'poking' isn't the best word to describe what she did. It would be too open and obvious. It was much more discrete: she poked Jérémie under the table. With her leg. So discrete that, at first, he didn't even realize it. It was the last thing that he'd think, after all.  
His initial reaction was to become a little annoyed. It wasn't exactly comfortable... it seemed as if something was kicking him or rubbing against him, but he couldn't tell what it was.  
She, however, thought it was hilarious.  
Finally, he decided to check what was bothering him. First he scratched his leg and saw that whatever was there pulled away quickly. A while later, he tried a concealed look.  
His eyes opened wide. Yumi's laughs began to turn a little loud. Everyone looked at her.  
Jérémie turned away, hiding his red face. She justified it: "I... just remembered one of Odd's cool jokes!"  
Maybe one of the worst excuses possible. Even though the boy in question was filled with pride, Ulrich and Aelita knew very well that 'cool joke' and 'Odd' did not go together. Ulrich was confused, not understanding anything, and Aelita just became more suspicious.

"I think we'd better go, guys, or else we're gonna be late", Odd said.  
"Since when you're this responsible?" Ulrich answered.  
"Well, since you guys aren't, someone has to, right?"  
They stood up and walked to the door. Jérémie was even clumsier than when he arrived.  
...he felt a hand in his shoulder for a moment. It was her. And she looked back and winked.  
Whatever he was feeling, it was mutual. Unlike his relationship with Aelita. He didn't think it was worth it to keep going like this. It was much easier to give up, abandon this sinking ship and try something new. With Yumi.  
He barely realized he was responsible for this failure.  
But Yumi certainly seemed like a... promising path. He already had an opinion on her hair, her unforgettable smile, her timid ways, her...  
He sighed and kept walking.  
Aelita, meanwhile, called Ulrich. "I need to talk to you after class."  
"OK", he answered in his calm and confused way.

* * *

"So, you wanted to talk to me?"  
The two had met under the arches of one of the school's corridors.  
"Yes. Eh... it's about... about Yumi."  
He cheered up a bit. "Ah... you wanted to go on another date like that one?"  
The memory of that day seemed to disappoint her even more.  
"Well, Ulrich, no... you... you haven't noticed anything strange about Yumi lately?"  
"Well, we're practically dating now, so... maybe I could call it 'strange'..."  
"That's not what I meant. Haven't you noticed anything different about her when she's near... Jérémie?"  
"Ah, yeah... a little, I guess. But it doesn't matter. They're friends and, besides, he's Jérémie."  
For a moment, she thought "what did he mean by that?", but she got it soon.  
He really was Jérémie, but he wasn't acting like him lately.  
"But still... don't you think Jérémie's also been weird around her?"  
"And I thought I was jealous... look at you, Aelita. Jérémie and Yumi?" He smiled sarcastically.  
"I'm serious, Ulrich. You just need to put the facts together. Didn't you see how they were staring at each other this morning?"  
"No, I didn't, she was talking to me. Are you sure you're not the one distorting the facts?"  
"And the way they were looking at each other when we were having ice cream?"  
"I think she was also talking to me."  
"My God, Jérémie was blushing and you still think it was nothing? And let's not forget them holding hands in the park! I saw it with my own eyes! You really think these are all just coincidences? They're going out, Ulrich! It's clear! I'm almost sure of it!"  
She knew she had good reasons to suspect Jérémie.  
Ulrich didn't get what this all meant. First she wanted to play matchmaker, setting them up on a date, and now she wanted out of it?  
Hm. Good reasons to suspect her...  
Yeah, getting love advice from Jérémie? Thinking about it, it really seemed like a very bad excuse.  
...her other lines also seemed like bad excuses.  
He really shouldn't have put Jérémie above suspicion.  
"But are you really sure, Aelita?'  
"I know what I saw, I saw it with my own eyes. Now it's a matter of you seeing it with yours."  
He seemed resolved.

* * *

Another meeting happened in another corridor. This one, however, was the work of chance.  
It was weird for Jérémie to be unaccompanied by Aelita. They always took this path going to another class, after all, it was usually the quietest.  
Yumi was walking on the opposite direction.  
Nothing much. She also had to change classes. Pure coincidence that they crossed paths.  
Jérémie avoided eye contact, like with everybody.  
The distance shortened.  
"Hey, Jérémie!"  
He didn't want that to happen, but, at the same time, he was hoping it did.  
"Hi, Yumi."  
She tried a half smile. "So, how are you...?"  
"Huh, I'm OK, but... I guess I have to go to ms. Hertz's class now..."  
"Ah yes, I also have classes and... you... what do you think... are you doing anything after class?"  
"Not that I know." She smiled.  
"And... maybe... what if we could get together?"  
The two started to blush. Especially Jérémie.  
"I-I... I... w... I'd l-love it! But... where did you want to go?", he said.  
Her smile was full. "Cool! Eh... we'll talk about it later, OK? I have to go!"  
"All right then."  
They started to part ways. Yumi stopped and looked around.  
"Ah, Jérémie?"  
She honestly didn't know anymore what was going through her head.  
"What is it?"  
"It's... come over here for a second..."  
They went behind a tree.  
"Yumi, class is about to st..."  
She silenced him with a finger in his lips.  
She lowered a bit and took of his glasses. Then she started to get closer.  
Jérémie definitively didn't have good memories of this scene...  
...but from that moment on, he would.  
The two ran in opposite directions. Yumi laughed quietly because she couldn't think of another thing to do. Jérémie was breathing fast and his glasses were a little foggy.

* * *

 **Author's Notes/Post Scriptum**

 **I think this chapter might've gone a little too fast. Well, I don't know, I'm saying this looking back to it. I actually write this with a friend, and we both thought it was OK. Yeah, I don't know.**


	10. Chapter 10

It was dusk and Odd and Ulrich were in their room. Odd was in his usual mood: jumpy and excited. Ulrich's mood was more down and nervous than usual.  
"...hey, Odd."  
"What is it, Ulrich?"  
"Don't you think Yumi's been a little..."  
"...a little weird? Yeah, well, I thought you'd never notice!"  
Ulrich's mood got worse.  
"Huh, and... how exactly... what do you think this 'weirdness' is?"  
"I thought you were more jealous than that, Ulrich! Haha! Didn't you see it today, during breakfast? The way her eyes seemed to, hm, envelop... ah, swallow him!"  
Ulrich absolutely hated the choice of words. He wanted to slap Odd in the face.  
"Him... who?"  
"Einstein, of course! Honestly, even I wouldn't have thought of it!"  
"And you tell me that with that smile on your face?" He was gritting his teeth.  
Odd's smile shrank. "Ulrich, it's all your fault. You kept putting it off for so long, and then..."  
"But... she herself had said she was in love with me!"  
"Yeah, I say that all the time!"  
Ulrich suddenly got up and pointed his finger at Odd. "Listen, Yumi IS NOT like you!"  
"Relax, man! I know that! But, you know, the easiest way to solve this is to go talk to her. Don't you think?"  
"I know it's hard to believe, but I'm serious now. Talking to her, you could set all of this straight."  
Ulrich didn't answer again. It looked like he was somewhere else.  
Odd shrugged. "OK. But don't complain when this kind of stuff happens again..."  
Ulrich left, slamming the door.  
"What a complicated guy!"

* * *

Ulrich's mind hadn't processed the situation yet. Was it a dream? A nightmare? Or worse... reality?  
Even thought he hated it, he could picture Yumi and William together.  
But Jérémie?  
Jérémie, the nerd who couldn't even make eye contact, and Yumi, his girl?  
...Yumi, "his" girl. But it had to be now, that things were working out?  
He didn't even know if it was all true. But Ulrich used to mix possibility with reality. And not even the impossibility of the scenario - Jérémie and Yumi - stopped his feelings from boiling.  
After all, whose fault was it? Certainly, not his. Even though they weren't "together", Ulrich never "cheated" on her. Why would she go after someone else?  
OK, there was that time with Emily, but it was only that time! She hung out with William all the time!  
...and now... Jérémie?  
Outlandish. It was as if love were an impatient child, or maybe a sadist playing with toys and characters, testing different pairs, with the only explanation being "I wanted to".  
But, thinking about it, wasn't his relationship with Yumi like that too? They didn't even have that much in common... ok, they liked martial arts. He read some mangas once in a while. But he actually just wanted to be near her. He loved her, just that. Even though it was complicated, it worked out. That's that.  
...wait, no! He loved Yumi, yes, since he first saw her. And that wasn't the result of anyone pulling the strings behind the cameras. It was something stronger. And he was sure she felt like that too.  
...sure? Even though she was with Jérémie?  
Was she really with Jérémie? It seemed so.  
His face came to mind. That snob smile...  
Maybe hitting a guy with glasses wasn't such a bad idea.  
No, he could never do that. He was still his friend. Besides, Yumi wouldn't forgive him. Neither would Aelita.  
But the question continued to bother him. Why Jérémie? Was he also, by any chance, loving? Kind? Thoughtful?  
Who dates someone who prefers a computer over people?  
Ironic, no? He was always nuts for his computer (program). And now that it was real, the passion faded.  
This guy is the one she's liking? The one she's supposedly going out with?  
Jérémie Belpois...  
It still didn't make any sense. But he had already made up his mind. He was going to break that relationship up. Or whatever it was.  
And, of course, talking to Yumi wasn't in his plans.

* * *

Jérémie and Yumi met near the school gates, a couple of minutes after classes had ended. The sun was going down and the place was practically empty. He was somewhat nervous.  
"So... why... did you want to meet me?"  
"Well... it's because I wanted to see you, isn't it?"  
"But... meeting, exactly, it means... what?"  
"...I don't think I need to explain. And... I also don't know if I can. I actually just kind of wanted us to meet, you know? Just... to see you."  
He turned red. "A-after... that?"  
"Sure", she smiled. "I even think... especially after that."  
'That'. Why had she done 'that'?  
Kissed Jérémie. And now she wanted to see him.  
She realized soon that he wasn't just her friend anymore. Or her 'good friend'.  
Ulrich was a 'good friend', and they'd never kissed. Now she was the one turning red.  
"Jérémie..."  
"Y-yes?"  
"I... think I'm only starting to see this now, but... I... I like you, Jérémie."  
He really didn't know how to react to that. First, the kiss.  
He was Aelita's boyfriend. Holding hands had already caused a lot of uproar. But today, at the table, she...  
Hadn't he already decided to give it up?  
He'd have to break up with Aelita first. 'Break up with Aelita'.  
Did those words break his heart? A little, but not as much as they should. After all, it was Aelita. The girl of his dreams. Practically his reason to live.  
Maybe that now was Yumi's kiss.  
Nobody knew it, but... he still thought about the day Yumi's clone almost kissed him. Every now and then, but he never forgot it.  
And the end of that scene had just happened a couple of hours before.  
"Yumi, I... too... I'm still very confused, but... I also t-think that... I'm feeling something for you..."  
She smiled.  
The point, however, wasn't liking Yumi, but not liking Aelita anymore. He had no idea how he'd do that. How to tell her that. Maybe he could continue keeping it a secret, but... it wasn't the right thing to do. He acknowledged that, sooner or later, he'd need to take a step. No matter how bad the consequences might be.  
"Jérémie, I... it's so good that we can be this honest with ourselves and with each other."  
She kissed him on the cheek.  
"I have to go home now. It's getting late. Ah, and... what if we got together tomorrow again? You could go to my house."  
He really didn't know what to think of that.  
"Huh... I... OK." It's what he managed to say.  
"Cool! So I'm waiting for you tomorrow. And... about this time, too? You know how to get there, right? Well, gotta go, see you!"  
She ran through the school gate. Smiling and worried, he walked slowly towards his room.

* * *

 **Author's Notes/Post Scriptum**

 **So, another long hiatus, haha. I've been incredibly busy this last semester with college, so I didn't have any time to work on this. On the other side, since I'm on vacation now, I hope to finish it by the end of this month. And... the pacing will probably get a little screwed up some chapters ahead. But that's because it's kind of hard to resume writing something seamlessly 6 months later...**


	11. Chapter 11

Aelita opened the door.  
"Good morning, Jérémie!"  
It was a somewhat unusual scene. Jérémie was sleeping on the bed. He usually slept with his face down on the keyboard. He started to wake up, rubbing his eyes and searching for his glasses with his hands.  
"Hm... good morning..."  
"We'd better go soon before we miss breakfast."  
He didn't eat that much at breakfast anyway.  
"You can go first... I'll leave later..."  
He yawned.  
"OK, but don't take too long!"  
She closed the door and went for the stairs. She wondered if she had made it.  
Hers wasn't a very complex plan. She'd simply act as she did before suspecting Jérémie. After all, it wasn't suspicion anymore - it was certainty.  
Maybe if she acted normally, he'd remember the relationship they had built. All that had made him fall for her. The days they spent together...  
She turned around and faced the walls. And held back a tear. Maybe she was too naive for thinking it could never happen. For trusting too much someone who was only human.  
For a long time, she herself wasn't human.  
Sometimes, she still didn't feel human.  
...she went down the stairs slowly.  
He still hadn't said anything about it. Technically, they were still boyfriend and girlfriend. But it was clear to all that it wasn't true anymore.  
Maybe the fact that Jérémie didn't love her anymore didn't bother her that much - after all, there were other people on the world, and they shared good memories while it lasted. She was trying not to hold a grudge and move on. Trying to go back to those memories was the same as wearing rose-tinted nostalgia glasses.  
Now, what really bothered her that he kept trying to hide the situation. Why not tell it at once? Sure, Jérémie was shy, but still, she was his girlfriend. (She had a brief reflection on the word 'was'.) The real problem was the lack of trust.  
Again, she thought if her mistake wasn't trusting too much. And wasn't that the proof that she was human?  
And that Jérémie was human too. Because of that, he'd rather not tell the truth than be sincere. Break her trust instead of looking for a solution.  
There were no more stairs.  
It was useless trying to bring back the past. And nothing better to move on than to finally make it public. Maybe he really didn't love her anymore, but he'd have to act according to it.  
Aelita arrived at the cafeteria and joined Odd and Ulrich on the line.  
"Hey, where's Einstein?"  
"He'll be here soon, Odd."  
"I wonder if I can have his breakfast today..."  
She smiled, looking sideways. "...sure."  
Meanwhile, Jérémie was dressing for breakfast. Not that he was going to eat anything - his stomach felt horrible. Since last night, he was really nervous. Even so that he lay down and slept on his bed to try calming down.  
Yumi had invited him over to her house, and he really didn't know how to deal with that. He got more nervous with every minute that passed, that drew him closer to the afternoon.  
Not that he didn't want to go. On the contrary, he was looking forward to it. It was just that he didn't feel that comfortable with Yumi yet, and... he didn't have a clue as to what she wanted with it.  
The fact that he was, technically, cheating on Aelita didn't bother him. In his mind, it didn't make sense to keep thinking about that relationship - honoring his reputation of being a coward, he was always the first to get out. He only needed to tell her the truth. But he couldn't.  
For now, it was easier to sustain the illusions.  
He entered the cafeteria and sat down without taking any food.  
"Glad you're not eating anything today, Einstein, because I already got your food!"  
"Good morning, Jérémie", Ulrich said, indifferent.  
"Everything okay with you, Jérémie? It looks as if there's something bothering you..." Aelita asked, smiling.  
"Huh, yes, I'm... fine."  
"That's not what your face is saying!" Odd laughed.  
"I didn't sleep very well..."  
"Well, those are some breaking news" Ulrich replied.  
"Jérémie, when we tell you you should go to bed earlier, it's because we care about you" Aelita added.  
He answered with a grunt. "Thanks, Aelita, I know, but I think I'm already responsible enough to take care of my sleep schedule."  
Ulrich thought that was a weird answer. He'd usually justify it by spending the night coding something.  
"You don't even want a glass of water?"  
"I'm fine, Aelita."  
Even when they had an argument, Jérémie wasn't that sour.  
Aelita also noticed, and decided insisting wasn't worth it.  
"OK then."  
"I'm off, guys. I have some things to take care of. See you."  
He left with his hands in his pockets.  
"Since when is Einstein so lame?" asked Odd.  
"Something must've happened and he doesn't want to tell us", suggested Aelita.  
The three looked at one another, but no one had the courage to say it. She thought if she should feel sad about that. And if they could remain friends, if this change in mood was only temporary...  
She hoped so. Yes, it wouldn't be the same, but... would he really ruin all they had?  
Odd's noises shook her train of thought. Breakfast went on.

* * *

Another day in class was over. Usually, Jérémie didn't have any problems with it. After all, classes were too easy for him - but today, his thoughts were elsewhere. The day took long enough to pass...  
And there he was. Almost at the school gates. He didn't have any idea about what could happen. Or the consequences of it. It would be so much easier to stay in his comfort zone, and yet... his curiosity drove his steps.  
He was in the street now. Daylight was dimming and he knocked on the door.  
Nobody answered. He started to think it could all be a prank. Now he was even more worried. He didn't risk knocking twice and waited in front of the door.  
A couple of minutes later, he got an answer:  
"Jérémie, is that you?"  
"Yes..."  
"Come on in."  
She unlocked the door, but didn't open it.  
There wasn't anyone there, but he thought he'd seen something running through the house... He closed the door.  
"Yumi?" His voice was failing a bit.  
"I'm up here, Jérémie. Just come here."  
He walked with careful steps. He saw Yumi's boots in a corner of the living room. He had forgotten to take off his shoes...  
There. Now he could barely hear his socks touching the ground.  
Was that laughter he heard...?  
He started going up the stairs.  
It probably wasn't the best situation to think about the horror movies Odd watched. Even though Jérémie found them silly. And wasn't afraid of them.  
The door to Yumi's room.  
The same force that drove him forward now, like a magnet, kept him away from the door. He couldn't touch the handle.  
"Yumi?"  
"Come in, Jérémie..."  
The magnet switched its polarity. His hand stuck to the handle. The door didn't make a sound.  
He blinked and, when he opened his eyes, he could see the entire room. The bed was right in front of him...  
...and on it, Yumi.  
His eyes almost popped out. He started breathing heavily and his heart suddenly went fast.  
He had to hold on the doorframe. Yumi was always wearing a black shirt that gave her a distand and dark look. It had a turtleneck and long sleeves. Her pants were also black. But now, lying on the bed, as if on a divan, she... didn't have any pants on. And wore a kimono that looked a lot like her outfit in Lyoko.  
She gave Jérémie a smile and got up. He leaned his head upwards. She was almost 20cm taller than him. And... was that lipstick? Dark red...  
She put one hand on her hip.  
"So, Jérémie... won't you come in? And close the door?"  
Even if he tried to make it unnoticed, he couldn't take his eyes off her legs. His mind spinned like a ventilator. He immediately followed her orders.  
He scratched the back of his head.  
"Uh... hi."  
She smiled again. "Hah, all right." One step, two steps forward. She lowered and they were face to face.  
She caressed his face. "I think it's better if we don't use words, too." She got up again and turned away.  
The two thought very differently. Jérémie was just a shy, 13 year old kid - he didn't know how to handle the situation. In fact, he never thought about this kinds of things. Or knew of their existence.  
Yumi was two years older. It wasn't uncommon for the topic to pop up in conversations with her friends. Or even with William. Not to mention some things in her diary.  
Well, but not that they'd take it to that point. First, she knew that Jérémie was too young for these things. She also didn't feel mature enough.  
So what was her goal? Not just now, but since that kiss... she didn't only want to mess with Jérémie's head. She also wanted to mess with her head. The emotion. The contact she'd never had with Ulrich.  
Still with her back turned, she opened the kimono and let it fall on the floor. Now it was just her underwear. But not something you'd wear under your clothes everyday.  
She turned again...  
Jérémie turned redder than the colors on her kimono. He couldn't take that smile...  
It was a very weird feeling. And new... he felt warm and... as if he was suffocating. As if his heart wanted to jump out of his throat.  
She walked behind him, put her hands on his shoulders and led him to the bed. He sat down. Her hands took off his glasses, already a little foggy.  
She laughed again and gave him a little push. He lied down against his will.  
...he felt her hair on his face. And her lips on his lips. It was like a prison, one that he didn't want to escape from.  
A weight lifted from his mouth. Except for his heavy breathing, he could barely move. Actually, he could barely think. It was as if... all his blood circulated at maximum speed.  
He could sit down again. Yumi's hand waved through his blond hair... she pulled it and he dived in her lips again.  
He could break the inertia and his hands also felt her mystifying hair.  
The two stopped to breathe. They were still holding each other, face to face. Jérémie took a wrong move and felt something in his hand. Yumi immediately pushed him and laughed.  
"I didn't know you were like this..."  
She did something on her back and sat down too.  
"I think we should have a more serious conversation."  
His brain wasn't working at the time, so he could only nod.  
"You know, I want to be with you, Jérémie. And I know we want to be together. So... don't you think it's time for us to come clean?"  
He also knew it had to be done, sooner or later. And he couldn't put it off forever.  
"I... I agree, Yumi."  
"So... we're dating! And we don't need to hide anymore."  
He smiled.  
"I think it's getting late, Jérémie. You'd better go so you can still have dinner."  
He still couldn't talk much. "OK then."  
"See you tomorrow, Jérémie!"  
She gave him a goodbye kiss.

* * *

 **Author's Notes/Post Scriptum**

 **This is a chapter I have some mixed feelings about. This whole idea of Yumi in a kimono and such was of a friend of mine, and this is actually based on some things he wrote. I think we might have taken things a little too far with this, but anyways... what's done's done, right?**


	12. Chapter 12

Jérémie couldn't get out of bed. He was going to miss breakfast - not that he cared. He barely ate anyway.  
Besides, he was getting a little tired of the cafeteria. It seemed as if they spent too much time there.  
And, anyway, Yumi didn't have breakfast at school.  
He wasn't tired. In fact, he was just about to get up and turn on his computer. But the weight of his thoughts still nailed him to his bed, looking upwards.  
Aelita didn't come to knock on his door.  
And what had actually happened the day before? Is that where his relationship with Aelita would arrive? He had only overheard some conversations from his classmates.  
Well, she was two years older than him, so... she should know what she was doing.  
Still, it looked as if everything was going too fast. He and Aelita had never thought about this level of... intimacy. Again, not that they understood that much about it.  
Maybe he should try to learn. Not with internet, however. He knew there were some weird stuff in there.  
He could ask someone about it. OK, so he was shy, but also curious. Intellectually speaking, of course. He also couldn't ask Yumi. After all, she acted like it wasn't a big deal, when it clearly was one for him.  
Maybe she'd even be happy to explain, but, on the other side, he was afraid of not being mature enough for it and ruining everything. He had never needed to be anything else than just himself to be with Aelita. But the situation now was very different.  
He had also thought about talking with Odd, but, again, he needed someone mature enough.  
And... why not William? He was Yumi's friend and they were the same age. Alright, it would be a little weird talking to him, considering they weren't that close and that there was some animosity between him and the Lyokowarriors. Besides, he and Yumi weren't that friendly lately. It definitely had to do with him almost finding out their secret. If it weren't for the return to the past...  
Anyway, if he wanted to talk to William, especially after all that had happened, it was a very obvious sign that it was time to start taking his new relationship seriously.  
He started to think about what he could say...

* * *

The alarm interrupted Ms. Hertz's explanation. It was recess, so she knew the students wouldn't wait for her to finish. She ended her class and soon there was an obstruction at the door.  
The four friends got up. Interesting detail: it was the first time Jérémie and Aelita didn't sit together. They started to move when the room cleared. The boy with glasses stopped in front of the door and turned around.  
"What's going on, Einstein? Are you a hall monitor now?" Odd asked, laughing.  
"No, it's... I have to tell something important."  
A dark and tall figure appeared outside of the room.  
"Hey, guys."  
She tried a half-smile. Jérémie clumsily followed.  
"Actually, we need to tell something important", she corrected him.  
"...I knew it!" whispered Odd. Aelita frowned and crossed her arms. Ulrich put his hands inside his pockets.  
The fact that everyone already knew what was going to happen had the opposite effect to reducing tension.  
"So, this is harder than I thought it would be..."  
She looked at Ulrich with a worried expression.  
"Yumi and I... we're... seeing each other." He threw a quick look at Aelita.  
She reacted with indignation. After all they had been through, all she got was a confession and a glance?  
Ulrich also frowned and started to walk towards the door. Jérémie and Yumi let him pass. His head remained low.  
"Well, I'm also off, I want to get something to eat while class doesn't start again!" Odd left the room giggling.  
Yumi put her hand on Jérémie's shoulder.  
"Aelita, I... know it was unexpected, but... this is it."  
She faked a smile. "I already knew. Good that you at least thought about telling."  
The two left together. Now, Aelita was alone in the room. Alone, like in Lyoko.  
Just like Jérémie showed up one day, now he disappeared. And even without any reasonable explanation.  
No, he had betrayed her before that. And now he just left.  
How to remain friends with someone that doesn't even try to care? She was broken inside.  
She wondered if he realized how much he was making her suffer. Certainly, he should have a clue about it.  
...she didn't want to cry.

* * *

"Hey, Jérémie!"  
"William!"  
They met by chance in front of the science laboratory building.  
"I needed to talk to you!" both said in unison. "Ah..."  
WIlliam broke the uncomfortable silence. "So, Jérémie, I know this is kind of weird, but... I wanted to talk to you. It's because... I keep having these dreams lately, and... well, Yumi and I are in it..."  
Jérémie thought about where the conversation would go. Maybe talking to William wasn't such a good idea after all. Or maybe it was a better idea than he'd thought.  
"And... we're on this bridge, fighting against this guy who looks like a plumber, and then I help Ulrich defuse a time bomb, and, finally, you're on this giant computer... it's pretty weird, and I had it more than once."  
Jérémie gasped and took a step backwards, taking care not to sound too surprised. How come William remembered that day? Hadn't they used the return to the past? Some bug in the program, maybe... They really needed to keep an eye out for him.  
"Well, that's a bit... peculiar, haha. It almost sounds like a script for one of those crazy TV series..."  
"Ah, the dream reminded me that you're good with computers and stuff. So, my PC's a little slow, could you format it for me?"  
Jérémie was relieved. "Ah, of course!"  
"Did you need to talk with me too? You called my name earlier..."  
"It's that..." he thought a bit. "You know, I also had a dream, and..." his face started turning red. "There were some stuff that... I didn't understand, and I think you know more about it than I do..."  
"What do you mean, stuff you didn't understand?"  
"Uh... it was like... stuff... with me... and..." he could barely talk. "...with girls..."  
William started to laugh. "Ah, you're killing me, Jérémie! What has Aelita been doing with you?"  
It looked like gossip didn't travel that fast after all.  
"OK, I'll teach you all you need to know about them. Why don't we talk in my room... after you format my PC?"  
The two walked together. William was still laughing, while Jérémie was almost dying with shyness.

"Thanks for the help, Jérémie. So, what did you want to know again?"  
"You know... when people are going out, what... do they do? You know... when...?"  
"Ah, my dear Jérémie... sit down. I'll tell you everything."  
After a few minutes, Jérémie left William's room with his mind somewhere else, walking about aimlessly. William also left soon after.  
"Wow, I never imagined Aelita was like that!" he thought.  
He met a friend in the hallway. "Hey, Will, did you hear the news? Yumi's going out with Jérémie!"  
He laughed. "Aw, come on. Jérémie, the little shy guy, with Yumi?"  
"But I'm serious! They were together after class, everyone's talking about it!"  
"It's just not possible. I just talked with him, and... now wait a minute."

* * *

Ulrich couldn't walk around the school anymore. It seemed as if everyone around him was talking about him, about Jérémie and Yumi. He was frowning more than usual.  
He'd lie in bed whenever he was in a bad mood. Not this time. He felt worse than just a bad mood.  
He felt betrayed. OK, so he and Yumi were never actually, officially together, but they knew what they felt. They had moments together. Like when she thought she had to go back to Japan. Or when she almost died in that attack with the snowstorm.  
And she wanted them to be "just friends". Just friends, and now she was with Jérémie.  
He felt worthless. Like trash. She switched him for Jérémie? He had his rivalries with William, but that was understandable. After all, William wasn't such a bad guy. They'd probably be friends if they didn't like the same girl. Honestly, he even admired him a little. But Jérémie? Jérémie and Yumi?  
He still couldn't understand why she had done that. He thought about what Odd had said. Maybe he really needed to talk to her. Maybe she was tired of waiting and moved on.  
Still, it didn't explain why Jérémie left Aelita for Yumi. Which meant that, somehow, it was Jérémie's fault, Ulrich thought. After all, not having the courage to tell her his feelings didn't make her go after William.  
That must've been it. It wasn't his fault, it was Jérémie's! Jérémie went after Yumi, he went after his girl. He needed to do something about it.  
He needed to talk - not with Yumi, but with Jérémie.

Meanwhile, someone opened the door to Jérémie's room, without knocking. He was surprised by it and almost jumped out of his chair.  
"Ah, it's you." He turned back to the monitor.  
She leaned in the doorframe and smiled. "You? I have a name, you know."  
A few steps sounded. Her hands rested on his shoulders. Aelita would've sat on the bed, he thought. It was so different.  
He tilted his head upwards and they looked each other in the eyes. He still hadn't gotten used to that and his cheeks turned pink from seeing her smile.  
Ulrich wasn't that wrong. It was Jérémie's fault: he could have stayed with Aelita. He could have been a coward. He could have prevented it all.  
But, as always, he was the passive element in the equation. The realm problem was her smile. In a few words, she had seduced him.  
Why?  
Even she didn't know. But the fact is, she had always like Jérémie. Sometimes, she had thought of him as a brother. A nice brother, not like the little pest that was Hiroki. In many aspects, she identified herself more with him than with Ulrich. They were nice friends.  
OK, Ulrich was thoughtful, but, after all, what did they have in common? Martial arts? Not to mention he was very jealous and insecure.  
Not that she wasn't jealous. Or that Jérémie wasn't.  
Anyway. Fighting. Contact. Wasn't that what she had done with Jérémie? What she wanted?  
And his shyness and innocence had a certain charm...

It was that smile again. He was lost while her hair touched his forehead...  
Damn. He had to finish that program.  
"Y-Yumi, I..."  
"Aw, Jérémie, you could at least speak normally to me now!"  
"It's... I have to finish this program..."  
She remembered how often his computer would come up when she was talking with Aelita.  
Her hands held his face. "I'll stop by again later, OK?"

* * *

Walking on the hallways was starting to become dangerous. It was better to walk around the open spaces than to risk seeing someone you knew.  
Jérémie learned that when he bumped into Ulrich going to a Math class.  
He saw his friend coming and, a moment after, he was pressed against the wall.  
"So, my dear Einstein, how's life going?" Ulrich said with an energic irony.  
"It's... good..." he answered, with cold sweat from his friend's stare.  
"Listen. I don't know what you want with this. But Yumi's my girl. I know it and you know it too. So you'd better stop it."  
He prepared for the worst. "...does she know it?"  
"I'm tired of you, Belpois! I know it's all your fault. It's some kind of trick, right? You'd better give up before I do something reckless..."  
Jérémie hadn't seen Ulrich like that since his father came to visit him.  
He wasn't so afraid anymore. After all, Stern wouldn't do anything against him. Or against Yumi. Jérémie didn't like to think about his friends' faults, but he knew that, behind his anger, Ulrich was a pretty mellow guy.  
Well, he was too. He thought about delivering another sarcastic remark, but didn't have the courage. He nodded.  
Ulrich sighed. Deep down, he was worried and afraid. He couldn't accept the fact that Yumi had fallen for another guy.  
His head lowered while he walked, hands in pockets.  
Jérémie sighed in relief and continued his path to Math class.

He tried to avoid seeing anyone in the way back to his room. Even so, he didn't see the silhouette hiding in the shadows.  
He opened the door, entered and heard steps. Soon he was being pressed against the wall once more.  
With a kiss.

* * *

 **Author's Notes/Post Scriptum**

 **Not much to say about this one. Just one curiosity, the thing about Yumi thinking about Jérémie as a brother was actually taken from the CL Wiki.**


	13. Chapter 13

It was quite a month. XANA was really trying his worst to destroy Lyoko.  
He had tried to blow the factory up. And in that day, William almost found out their secret. If it weren't for the return to the past...  
And even then, they weren't safe. William was pretty nosy lately. He could end up finding about Lyoko again.  
And those dreams he was having... surely, that couldn't be a good sign.  
XANA's last attack was an attempt to sabotage the supercomputer. And Lyoko only had one region left now. To top it off, the warriors weren't on good terms with each other, which made things even more difficult...  
Ulrich didn't talk with Jérémie anymore. Sure, it was childish, but that's the way he was.  
Aelita had taken a bitter attitude to the couple. She always had a snarky comment ready, but it was actually to hide the sorrow they had caused her.  
In the end, Odd was the only one common to them all.  
Yumi had lost two friends... and one of them was a good friend. She didn't miss Aelita that much - she could do without the girl talk. But she missed Ulrich.  
She loved Jérémie, and it was always nice to meet up with him after class, or when he'd go to her place on some weekends. Sometimes they'd watch movies, or play something... Jérémie even got her into some videogames.  
The problem is that he often seemed to give the games more attention than her.  
"They aren't games, Yumi! I said I'm working on my latest program."  
Or give any attention at all. One day, she got sick and didn't go to school. He didn't even bother to call.  
"You would've told me if it were anything serious..."  
What she didn't know is that Ulrich still cared about her, even with all that had happened. A lot more than Jérémie did, apparently.

* * *

Anyway, it wasn't that easy meeting up at Yumi's. Well, not to watch movies and stuff. It was something else. Almost all the time one of her parents was home, and they wouldn't like the idea of a boy hanging around their house.  
Not that they had anything against their daughter being with someone. They even thought it was cute when Ulrich had shown up, especially that day when he gave Yumi a flower. It was even somewhat good, given that, a few years ago, they thought that her daughter might be...  
Well, those were only details.  
Of course they'd be happy to know that Yumi was going out with the smartest boy in his class, maybe even in the entire school. And maybe they'd find it a little weird that he was two years younger, but it wasn't that big of a deal.  
The problem was the reason. What they did.  
Again, it wasn't anything like that. Even though Yumi's curiosity had led her to propose it a couple of times, Jérémie refused. He said he wasn't ready for stuff like that and that he was still too young. It was true, to some extent, but she knew it wasn't worth trying to face his fear.  
In any case, it wasn't very convenient having two teenagers kissing around their home.  
And that was only part of the story. They were getting to know each other better, but not emotionally. It was pretty easy to see where it all was headed. "Keep your hands to yourself" was something they didn't have in mind.  
Yumi even took off her shirt last time. Well, not that she hadn't done that before, but it wasn't at school.  
Anyway, going to her place wasn't such a good idea. They couldn't go to Jérémie's room either, because girls weren't allowed to stay at the boys' dorms. Even though Jim had that "yeah, you go, Belpois!" attitude, he still had to enforce the rules.  
That means they had to meet in random places around the school. The problem was being seen. By Ulrich or Aelita, that is.  
Jérémie would get shy if he saw Aelita around, while Yumi would be slightly disappointed for losing her friend. If Ulrich passed by, Yumi would just pretend he wasn't there, and Jérémie would get scared.  
Luckily, they didn't get caught too often.

* * *

Jérémie didn't have breakfast anymore to avoid meeting with Ulrich and Aelita. It didn't matter to him, anyway. That meant he could sleep a couple of minutes more. Could, but he stayed awake anyway.  
For Odd, it was an excuse to eat more. Honestly, with all the Jérémie and Yumi stuff, he only wanted to see it all burn.  
"I saw the lovebirds behind the soda machines yesterday. Yumi was taking her shirt off! Well, the way it's been hot these days, I wouldn't blame her! Hahahaha!"  
"And you watched it all? Did you record a video too?" Aelita said, irritated.  
"Besides, Aelita, didn't you pick that shirt for her?" He laughed, filling his mouth with bread. "About the video, let me just get my cell phone..."  
"You don't have to, Odd" Ulrich interrupted. Looks like they could add voyeur to his list of weird habits. It's like their parents wrote a prophecy naming him.  
"...I still can't believe this is happening." Ulrich sighed.  
"Ah, it's simple. You were so weak even Einstein stole your girl!"  
"Or maybe she stole my boyfriend", Aelita thought. "To think he'd leave me so easily..."  
For her, it was mostly Jérémie's fault. Aelita knew that, even though she was reserved, Yumi was a confident girl. At least, she had to know pretty much every boy in school was after her.  
The deal with Jérémie was a bad prank gone too far. It wasn't much her fault for flirting with him, but his fault for going on with it. If he had been more firm, it wouldn't have happened.  
"...do you think I can still talk to her, Odd?"  
"Well, the way it's going, I'd say you have to act quick... who knows what they'll do next? Hahahahaha!"  
Aelita knew these "adventures" were just games out of Yumi's curiosity, but she didn't blame her for it. It even made some sense, considering the way she was and how she'd been raised.  
Well, not that Aelita had enough experiences in her life to know it. Maybe she was just too gullible.

* * *

"Ahn... who is it...? Ulrich...?"  
It was past midnight, and she picked up the phone.  
Jérémie never called her. In fact, he didn't even text her. Or wanted to leave his room.  
She often asked herself why they were together. When they met, they felt good with each other. They liked to exchange looks. Words, not so much.  
Touching? Not so much as it seemed. Jérémie was too much of a coward. Sometimes she thought she'd be better off alone.  
"Did I wake you up?"  
But Ulrich was also too weak, even though he tried not to look like it.  
"No, I was reading. But I'm already sleepy..."  
"Ah. It's... I wanted to talk to you."  
"I'm listening."  
"I'd rather we talked in person... you have math class tomorrow, right?"  
Maybe this was the chance he was finally waiting for.  
"Yeah. See you there, then?" She didn't even remember Jérémie.  
He was surprised by the answer. "Ah... sure! See you!"  
Yumi set her book aside with a smile.

* * *

"Hey, Yumi!" Aelita yelled from the school gates.  
It was still early and Yumi was very sleepy. She shouldn't have stayed up reading. She looked at Aelita's face. It seemed happier than usual. She couldn't shake off the feeling that Aelita's sorrows were her fault.  
She already wasn't a happy kid, given her past. But what could she do? She liked Jérémie.  
They hadn't talked in a while.  
"Ah... good morning, Aelita. You... you're not...?"  
"I... think it's better not to go there."  
They walked side to side.  
"So... how's it going?"  
"Fine, I think."  
"Any news...?"  
"Well, you're not going to believe what me and Je- ah... I mean, I've been reading a nice book lately."  
"I went shopping for some clothes some days ago. I... wanted..."  
"Aelita. You don't need to do this. I know you must be really disappointed with what I've done, and... there are other people for you to be friends with."  
"...you know... I could say the same to you."  
She would never have expected such an answer from Aelita.  
"Besides, we're Lyoko Warriors. I... don't think we can afford to lose our friendship."  
"Ah! It's... good you think that way. But... what about Je-"  
"Don't ruin this now, please. So... won't you join us for lunch today?"

* * *

Math class was a boring experience. For Yumi, at least. Maybe Ulrich had chosen the moment when she was most vulnerable. Or he was just dumb. It was possibly one of the worst moments to talk.  
His intentions were obvious. At first, she didn't notice, but every time Ulrich needed to "talk" to her, he was going to confess his love. Or try, at least. He had never succeeded.  
Her being with Jérémie must have sparked some courage in him. Maybe. The problem was: if he could finally do it, what would be her answer?  
She still liked Ulrich. She'd love to say that it was reciprocal, but... that way, she'd have to say she didn't like Jérémie, and that wasn't true. She really liked him, and didn't have any ulterior motives for dating him.  
If she said no... she'd probably miss her last chance.  
Ulrich approached the door, his face red.  
"Good morning, Ulrich."  
"G-good morning, Yumi...! How are you?"  
"Fine, Ulrich. And you?"  
He took a deep breath.  
"Yeah, me too. Uh... I know we haven't seen each other for some time, and... that you're seeing Jérémie and stuff, but... I wanted to tell you something that you... probably already knew. Ever since we've met... I really like you, Yumi. And... I wanted us to be together. I know this must be the worst time to say it, but... I just had to. I couldn't not tell you."  
He hugged her and started walking away.  
"Ulrich, wait."  
It was a terrible, crazy idea. It would never work. But she didn't have time to think. Ulrich would never share her with another boy. Even Yumi didn't like the idea of being "shared", or dating two people at the same time.  
But it was her last chance.  
Worse, she'd have to keep it a secret from the two of them. And from everybody.  
He turned around with a sudden movement.  
"I... I actually don't like Jérémie. Well, not as much as I like you, Ulrich. I think we should be together, too."  
He was shocked. Just the other day, she was taking her shirt off for Jérémie.  
Well, but Ulrich was never one to question. His thought was that now, she'd take off her shirt for him.  
Now she just had to tell everyone she had broken up with Jérémie and was with Ulrich. Sure, people would talk about it, but she didn't care. It was better than everybody knowing that she was dating two boys at the same time...  
She felt a little like Odd.  
And Jérémie wouldn't find out anyway. He barely talked to people, and didn't have lunch with his friends anymore. And this way, she could get close to Aelita again.

* * *

 **Author's Notes/Post Scriptum**

 **I had to rewrite a lot of parts of this chapter while I was posting it. It still feels kind of rushed and inconsistent.**


	14. Chapter 14

That day, at lunch, only one Lyoko Warrior was missing. Just the one that never went there.  
"Well, anyway, Aelita can use the supercomputer. If XANA attacks, I guess we'll be able to manage..." thought Ulrich. "After all, our problems can't stop us from saving the world." Oh, the irony of that thought coming to him...  
Yumi felt a little bad for being there without Jérémie. They had been having lunch later, when it was almost over. He said it was better for him to manage his time, but she knew it was because he was always late. If only he didn't spend so much time at the computer.  
Honestly, she'd rather have lunch earlier, with the rest of the guys. She could sit next to Ulrich now, without being afraid of exchanging looks.  
Well, maybe a little afraid. She was living a double life, after all.  
"Did you give up on Einstein today, Yumi?" asked Odd.  
"Not just for today", answered Ulrich.  
"Ahh, already over, and so soon? Well, my advice never fails! I think you're finally learning from the master! Hahahahaha!"  
Yumi should've guessed Odd was involved in this. And Ulrich was worried that Yumi might actually be learning from him. Odd being his roommate was already enough.  
"But that's it then? All's back to normal, no hard feelings?" Odd asked, curious.  
"It's not back to normal. It's better than normal." Ulrich smiled. He really was a desperate guy. Perhaps due to his family issues.  
"I don't know if I can say this, but... you know, I'm still very shocked with all that happened..." Aelita's eyes watered a bit. "I don't... think I can trust you guys as I thought I could."  
"It's OK, Aelita. That's just how life is. We never expect these things to happen" Yumi said. Good thing Aelita couldn't tell when people were lying.  
Odd raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Yeah, that's just how people are."  
"And I know that, definitely, I can't trust Jérémie anymore. ...serves him right to end up alone! I hope he's suffering because of it!" she said, crying at the end of the sentence.  
But he wasn't suffering. Or alone.

* * *

So, Yumi lived a double life now. Since Jérémie wasn't a part of the group anymore, it wasn't hard meeting up with him.  
He had become a ghost, so to speak. He was practically invisible to everyone in school. Outside of classes, he only bothered to see Yumi. Well, they liked each other and the moments they spent together. But being outside of the real world had its disadvantages. For example, he couldn't see that Yumi was dating Ulrich.  
They had made it public. Even her parents knew, and finally Hiroki stopped teasing her. But mostly it was a relief from a great tension, something they managed to deal with before it exploded. And everyone at school saw it as something that should have happened a long time ago.  
Sure, she had dumped Jérémie too quickly. Her explanation for it was that it was all a trick to make Ulrich jealous. Almost everyone believed her.  
Except Odd. He knew that it just wasn't like Yumi to do something like that. And even if she really had broken up with Jérémie, he'd have gotten closer to the group again. It wasn't a big surprise: Odd knew what it was like to date two people at once.  
It was just an hypothesis. He spent a few days trying to figure out a way to test it; he spent every breakfast, every lunch looking at her face, trying to pick up some hint...  
And then, eureka.  
Dinner was the secret. Since classes ended in the afternoon, Yumi had dinner at home. And Jérémie always had lunch and dinner late...  
He resolved to try and test it. Some twenty minutes after classes were over, he called Yumi. Not from his room, of course. He wouldn't want Ulrich to know it. Not now, at least.  
She took some time to answer the call. She was breathing a bit heavy. Odd put on a smirk...  
"Hi, uh, Odd? Everything all right? What is it?"  
"It's OK. I just wanted to know if you're going to dinner with us today."  
"Ah, thanks, but I'm still going home for dinner..."  
Going home? Wasn't she already home? That was the answer he wanted.  
"Ah, you're still in school then?"  
"What? No, no, I already left!"  
He heard her whispering. "It's Odd..."  
"Ah, alright then. We'll leave it for some other day. And say 'hi' to Jérémie for me!"  
"OK, Odd, see you- wait what did you just..."  
He hung up.  
Knowing that Yumi was dating two boys at once was valuable information, but he didn't know what to do with it. He wouldn't tell the whole school about it, after all, he was still friends with her. Maybe he could blackmail her. But still, what could he benefit from doing it?  
In a surprisingly lucid moment, he decided it was best to tell Ulrich. The poor guy had a right to know.  
His phone rang a couple of minutes later. "Hello, Yumi?"  
"Hi, Odd! Ah... before you hung up, did you say something about Jérémie...?"  
"Did I? I don't remember doing it..."  
"Listen, Odd. Don't try to play smart guy with me. I know what you said and I know that you know. So you'd better keep quiet. Or else..."  
From blackmailer to blackmailed. Now this was the Yumi he knew.  
"Or else what? Don't tell me you're going to break my face...?"  
"What? No, you know I don't like to use violence. I meant I'm telling the principal about Kiwi." She hung up.

* * *

"Hey, Ulrich, don't you think Yumi's been acting a little... weird?"  
That sounded like a bad déjà vu.  
"Odd, you know we're dating, right?"  
"Yeah, I know, but... doesn't this seem a little off? Considering all that happened..."  
"I can't believe you're trying to do this. Yumi and I are finally together, it's what we've always wanted. And you have the courage to bring this Jérémie stuff up again?"  
"I think you're right. So... did she take her shirt off for you yet?"  
"Hey! What kind of question is that? Why do you want to know?"  
"...well..."  
"...not yet. Not that I care about it."  
And he really didn't. Sure, they had already kissed, but until now they had a restriction on... touching. Not as if Ulrich didn't like it, but they had a silent mutual agreement that made it unnecessary. They completed each other, and being together was enough for not wanting to go further. For now.  
Maybe that's why Yumi liked Jérémie. One single touch made him melt down completely. It was too easy to... manipulate him. Like it was some sort of game. If Ulrich was emotionally weak, then Jérémie was physically weak.  
"Anyway, Odd, it's not like I haven't taken my shirt off for her before."  
"Ah, but that time doesn't count. Anyway, I'm just warning you to keep a look out, Ulrich."  
"That's just your jealousy talking."  
"Jealous? Me? But..."  
"Forget about that and let's go to sleep. What a complicated guy!"

* * *

"Yumi?" He tried to say something, but it was hard to talk with his mouth busy. She went back a little.  
"What is it, Jérémie?"  
He seemed a little worried. Well, lately, he already was kind of down. She should have known that living a lonely life wasn't easy, even for him.  
"I wanted to know... do you know how everyone's doing? It's been some time since I've seen them. Well, we see each other during classes, but even then we can't even look at each other's faces..."  
He felt like his life had rewinded to before Lyoko.  
And now? Yumi had to think fast. If Jérémie got close to the others again, her secret would be exposed. She needed to stop that, and she needed to lie.  
"Ah, I think they're doing fine. I don't see them so often, too. We don't even have classes together, haha..."  
She remained silent for a moment.  
"But why did you ask?"  
"Ah, nothing... I just think I miss them a little. It's kind of hard not having anyone to talk... even if it's Odd."  
"Jérémie, you still have me. And I have you."  
"Still... we haven't been seeing each other so much lately. I don't know, it looks like you're busier than usual."  
"Ah, it's just school. Tests, studying, and all that..."  
"But I think you might be right, you know. Maybe they really only liked me because of Lyoko. I... should have known."  
He hugged her.

* * *

 **Author's Notes/Post Scriptum  
**

 **We're actually getting close to the end here. I feel like the story goes too fast on the last chapters, but, on the other hand, it creates some sort of "acceleration" feeling. I think it's neat.**


	15. Chapter 15

Things had been pretty calm for some time. Sure, not taking into account all the relationship problems that had happened and the issue with the dreams William had, those were two and a half months during which the world wasn't in danger. They even almost forgot about XANA. Except for Jérémie, of course.  
But there's nothing bad enough that can't get worse.  
Jérémie rushed in the cafeteria, his breathing going wild. He looked to his sides, searching for someone.  
He didn't even have time to realize Yumi was having lunch with the rest of the group.  
He held her hand and started to speak, catching his breath between the words. "Quick, Yumi, XANA's attacking! We need to get to the factory now, and I know this is going to be complicated, but while we're running you can call Aelita and the other guys, and... ah."  
Odd's eyes opened wide. "...told you so, Ulrich. Haha..."  
"Yumi, why is Jérémie holding your hand?" Aelita asked.  
"Huh? Well, what's wrong with it?" Jérémie answered. Yumi forced a laugh, trying to remediate the situation.  
"It can't be", Ulrich said. "I don't believe it. Not again... and just now..." he started to scream. "I thought you loved me, Yumi!"  
Everyone in the cafeteria was looking at them.  
"B-but I do, Ulrich! But I also love J-"  
"Exactly! Why can't you guys understand? I think we have more in common than we thought, Yu-"  
"Now is NOT the time for this, Odd! And remember what I told you!"  
"You're going to rat out about Kiwi...?"  
"No! I think I'm going to break your face, after all!" He moved his chair backwards a bit.  
"You betrayed our friendship, Yumi! And I thought I could trust you!" Aelita said.  
"And you betrayed me, Yumi! I don't... I don't know how I ever could've had these feelings for you..." Ulrich completed.  
"But Ulrich... I still love you... I've always loved..."  
Jérémie was sweating bullets. "Uh... guys? I'm also really confused, but... did you forget that XANA was attacking? We need to get to the factory!"  
Normally, a situation like this would make Jérémie burn with hatred for Ulrich and Yumi, but he knew their duty was more important.  
"Great! We're going, then!" Aelita said, standing up. She went towards the cafeteria's exit. Ulrich did the same. Odd looked at Aelita, Ulrich and Yumi's faces and decided that, between angry faces, two were worse than one. He also stood up.  
Aelita turned around one last time before leaving. "We're going to save the world, Yumi. You have one last chance. The choice is yours."  
She still held Jérémie's hand and stood still, thinking, for a moment.  
"...you stayed? Why?"  
"I couldn't leave you alone like this." She smiled, and he did too.  
"...well. Let's go then. They aren't going to make it alone. We have to fight against XANA!"

* * *

"Get in the scanner, Odd! Hurry!"  
"Well, Aelita, I don't know if I can trust you this much..."  
"What are you talking about? I've done this a hundred times!"  
"Yeah, I know, but... with all this situation, I'd rather not take any risks, you know... haha..."  
"Ulrich, you trust me, don't you?"  
"Eh... sure. But I think Odd should go first. He's the one doubting you, after all..."  
In the meanwhile, the elevator arrived. It was Jérémie and Yumi. He went to the computer room, and she to the scanner room.  
"I can't believe it. After all you've done, you still have the guts to show up here?" yelled Ulrich.  
"Of course we do. It's what we need to save the world. We're Lyokowarriors!"  
"I'm virtualizing you now, guys" Jérémie said through the speaker. "Aelita's on her way."  
"Oh no you're not. How do I know you're not going to try anything funny with us?"  
"Knock it off, Ulrich. You're just wasting our time" replied Yumi.  
Aelita went out of the elevator. "Ulrich, I'm mad too, but this is more important."  
"Forget it. You can go without me."  
"I don't believe you're going to throw a tantrum again..." Odd sighed.  
Yumi looked at Odd and Aelita, nodding with her head. They agreed and went into the scanners.  
"Ulrich, I know... Actually, I don't know how you're feeling right now. But we have to go to Lyoko. And if you won't cooperate..."  
"If I won't, then what? I'll be a traitor? Like you?"  
"...I guess there's only one way for you to give up, right? God, you're so childish..."  
"Hah. I've been waiting for this since we've met."  
"Then, Ulrich, may the best win."

* * *

"Hey, Einstein, things aren't going great here! When are the reinforcements going to get here?"  
"I don't know, Odd. They're still fighting in the scanner room."  
"You sure one of them isn't a clone XANA sent?"  
"It's a good theory, but if that were the case, there would be lightning flying everywhere. Looks like they're just fightning. Besides, I'd be able to detect a clone."  
"But did you figure out what this attack is?"  
"Not yet, and that's what I'm worried about. These are usually the worst..."

"It's funny, isn't it? We'll be parting ways the same way we met."  
"Parting? What are you talking about? We still study in the same school, you know."  
She dodged a kick.  
"Honestly, this is way too stupid, Ulrich. I'm only doing this because I know it's the only way to prove to you that stopping the attack is more important. You've never been one to listen to reason..."  
"Great! So stay with Jérémie, then!"  
"After all this? I'm sure going to."  
In a moment of rage, he threw himself in her direction, making both go down to the floor.  
It almost made Yumi think her last sentence over.  
But, a few seconds later, he was already immobilized on the ground.  
"Done, Ulrich. You know, it's horrible having to deal with you when you're angry. I can't believe I played right into this little game of yours. Now, let's go."  
He grunted and went into the scanner. Maybe, unconsciously, he just wanted one more moment with Yumi.

* * *

"Yumi, I'm sorry for the ultimatum I gave you in the cafeteria. I really shouldn't have done that. And... I guess I shouldn't have said you betrayed my friendship. I guess I'm still a little jealous of Jérémie."  
"It's all right, Aelita. And it's nice to know not everybody's so stubborn as Ulrich. Maybe if he were more responsible, he wouldn't even have been devirtualized so soon."  
"Hey, I can hear you from here, you know!"  
"I'm well aware of it."  
"Anyway, Yumi, I guess I'm going to have to get used to all of this..."  
Odd was at Jérémie's side, looking at the supercomputer. Ulrich was sitting on a corner. He was mad at Jérémie, and a little at Yumi too. Supposedly, he was in the corner to look out for anything suspicious, but he was so deep in his thoughts that he didn't even realize the elevator door opening.  
It was William.  
Jérémie and Odd looked backwards. "To make things worse, this guy found the factory... I know I shouldn't have gotten out of bed today..."  
"Odd, I think William had some help finding the factory... Look at his eyes!"  
"Ulrich, watch out!"  
"Huh? What?"  
William shot a bolt of lightning from his hand, but Ulrich was able to dodge in time.  
"What is William doing here?"  
Another bolt sent him flying across the room.  
"Damn it, Ulrich, couldn't you have concentrated now like you did in your stupid fight with Yumi?" Jérémie complained, desperate.  
"Relax, Einstein! I'll take care of it! Lateral crossing pattern and pincer strategy!"  
Odd jumped and sent a kick against William. He dodged and started running towards the supercomputer.  
"Yumi! Aelita! You need to get to the tower fast! XANA's possessed William and I don't think I'll last much longer..."  
"We're almost there, Jérémie! Just a few more seconds!" said Aelita.  
William pushed Jérémie away from the computer and started to type something.  
"Oh no! I think he's going to do something to the supercomputer's programs!"  
"BANZAI!" yelled Odd, trying to hit William with a piece of metal. He did it... but as soon as William recovered, he grabbed him by the collar with one hand, typing with the other. He started to send an electrical current through Odd's body.  
"No!" gasped Jérémie.  
And in that moment, the speakers sounded.

"Tower deactivated."

A specter came out of William's body and he passed out. Odd fell on the floor.  
"We did it just in time, Jérémie" Yumi said.  
"But we can't celebrate yet. I don't know what XANA did here yet, but... looks like he modified the devirtualization program. I think you're going to have to hang in there for a couple more minutes until I find out what's going on."

* * *

"So, Einstein? What is it this time? I hope it's nothing you can't solve..."  
"Ah... bad news. XANA really screwed up the devirtualization files. He knew he didn't have much time, so yours and Ulrich's files are still intact. But Yumi and Aelita's..."  
"Our what? Can we get out of here soon?" asked Aelita, somewhat nervous.  
"Well, he rewinded the programs to their original versions, which means they don't have your data anymore and can't devirtualize you..."  
"But then all you have to do is fill in the data" Aelita answered. "My materialization program should have them."  
"That's right. The program does have all your data. You should be back to Earth today."  
"What's the deal, then?"  
"Yumi's data. I'd have to make another materialization program, and I don't know how long it could take... even though I've already made a working one, it's not something you can do in a day..."  
"It's all right, Jérémie. It's not your fault. It's XANA. I think this means we need to stay united in our fight against him" Yumi said.  
Jérémies eyes became watery. Ulrich's too, but he wanted to hide that, even now, his feelings for her still lived.  
"But how are we going to explain it to her parents, and to the principal, and to-"  
"We'll figure it out, Odd. We knew the risks when we got into this. I don't know, maybe I'll make a clone or something. So... I think we're back to square one," said Jérémie. "But I promise. I'll get you out of there, Yumi."  
Ulrich looked at him with some anger and completed the sentence, whispering: "...and I'll visit you everyday until he does..."

* * *

 **"This was truly, truly a roundabout path... Everything we've done until now was just a detour..."**

When I was writing this, I thought: when does a story end? I mean, it can't end with a "happily ever after", because that doesn't exist. Life is perpetual drama, we're not more than actors on a stage. Which means that, unless the author ties all loose ends, a story doesn't have closure. There's always more stuff that happens after the "end". People grow up, get jobs, have relationships, kids, grow old. And even then, there are the lives of their descendents...

Stories, like life, never end. So, in my opinion, there are only two ways to achieve closure: either it never happened or everyone dies. Maybe both, if you're brave enough. But then, if closure is not possible, when does a story end? Here, I've chosen to end this story where it started. Not the story, but CL. And sure, I could've written more. But I feel it would have gotten stale quickly, and so I think this was a good point to end. And that's it. Those are my final closing comments for this story.

 **I'd like to thank everyone that has read my story, even if you didn't like it so much. It means a lot to me! And until next time (if I feel like it, haha)**


End file.
